Hi there,

Thanks for posting the question.

..Determinism does not explain : ...why differences (uniqueness) exist?
l

You are very welcome. Glad you liked that topic.


You write: Determinism does not explain why differences (uniqueness) exist?
Why does it have to explain that? Can''t it be true (in its place) and different outcomes still occur, and unique creatures still have reality?

Hi,

I think if you do a thought experiment, and traced back all events to some singularity, determinism would have to explain what caused the forward series of events, and how did uniqueness occur, since every event and action, starting from the beginning, in a deterministic setting, would necessarily have to be the same...rich

A buddy of mind who labels himself "a Determinist" explains that while time is a human invention,the universe always existed (in his view), and that it had the potential to evolve in an infinite number of ways, and that maybe it did and there are multiple universes - of which we are unaware. We only know something of our own. So he still holds to "every effect has a cause", but he has lately widened his perspective (perhaps due to the influence of his pal) to allow that maybe there are spontaneious events.

In fact, as a chemist he agrees sully that radio-active disintegration of the rare metals occurs as spontaneous (totally-unpredictable) events. Hence there is no doubt about that when it comes to Nuclear Chemistry. As it applies to human individuals, when we are completely playful, and/or creative, (or like the eccentric geniuses), we are liable to do anything !

A certain fellow whose name begins with H (and ends with y) may be a possible exception, but I am not here going to get into personalities; this is, after all, a philosophical discussion. ------:shifty:

When he runs down the street, or leaves a country to go on vacation, or to tour, he may say: "It is just a feeling I have that I am free to move about. I'm not really free."
And when the people in The Solidarity Movement in Poland resisted the oppressive Soviet government, he would likely assert: "They were not freely following their consciences. They just felt they had this thing called "freedom" as a goal to pursue. There is no such thing." ...The same for the people of Ukraine, or the people of Iran today. They all are just kidding themselves, he would claim.

THE PLACE OF DETERMINISM (AND FREEDOM) IN ETHICS
The question is often asked: If one accepts Determinism can there be a place for Ethics, since if every action is determined -- has a prior cause -- then we are not free, and cannot be praised for our morality nor for behaving ethically.

The determinism encourages us to act goodly.
We are not determined to act badly.

So when we goodly act we are not responsible; when we badly act we are responsible.

We know what is bad. So we are always the possibility to do not the bad.

-----"Nothing emergining from something?---------" ????

Hi Rich,

I think you meant to say: "Something emerging out of nothing..." But that would not be quite accurate.

The article in The New Scientist to which you refer says: "Photons appear and disappear randomly within the cavity due to tiny energy fluctuations in space that cause quantum particles to blink in and out of existence."

They appear "due to tiny energy fluctuations in space", and the space may not be a pure vacuum. Hence they are not appearing "out of nothing" as you may have wanted to claim.

Wheeler posits that it would happen in a vacuum. But it is sufficiently interesting at this point of time that they actually observed photons emerging and disappearing. In time ...

Rich