Compassionist's Infinite Conundrums for all

[Compassionist]

1. Unequivocally prove that you have an immortal soul. If you succeed, I will pay you an infinite amount of money.

2. Unequivocally prove that deity or deities exist or do not exist. If you succeed, I will pay you an infinite amount of money.

3. Unequivocally prove that living things have a free will that is not bound by the constraints of causality. If you succeed, I will pay you an infinite amount of money.

4. Unequivocally prove that there is life after death. If you succeed, I will pay you an infinite amount of money.

I propose the following regarding reality:

1. Causality Rules.
All things happen according to causality. Things happen the way they do because at the time and place of the happening, that is the only way things could have happened. My wife prefers chocolate flavour while I prefer vanilla flavour. Our preferences differ because of differences in our respective genes, environments, nutrients and experiences. If YOU had my genes, environments, nutrients and experiences you would be me and typing these words exactly where and when I am right now. And if I had your genes, environments, nutrients and experiences I would be YOU reading these words exactly where and when YOU are as you read this. We make choices but our choices are not free from causality, our choices are constrained by causality. The inevitable has happened, is happening and will continue to happen. Causality rules.

2. Compassion Soothes.
Life is full of suffering. Compassion cannot prevent all suffering but it can soothe those who are suffering. This is why I am a compassionist. You have suffered before and will suffer more and you will die. This is why I love you. If I were omnipotent, there would be no suffering anywhere in the omniverse but I am not omnipotent. I am a prisoner of causality, just as you are a prisoner of causality.

[byofrcs]

1. Unequivocally prove that you have an immortal soul. If you succeed, I will pay you an infinite amount of money. 1 Taka (Bangladeshi currency) in this life and the rest in the next life or lives.

2. Unequivocally prove that deity or deities exist or do not exist. If you succeed, I will pay you an infinite amount of money. 1 Taka (Bangladeshi currency) in this life and the rest in the next life or lives.

3. Unequivocally prove that living things have a free will that is not bound by the constraints of causality. If you succeed, I will pay you an infinite amount of money. 1 Taka (Bangladeshi currency) in this life and the rest in the next life or lives.

4. Unequivocally prove that there is life after death. If you succeed, I will pay you an infinite amount of money. 1 Taka (Bangladeshi currency) in this life and the rest in the next life or lives.

To quote Iain M. Banks, "Money is a sign of poverty", which is taken from The Culture universe and it means that money is a symbol of a poor society. In a post-scarcity world, money is irrelevant.

What you are using as a bribe I believe will be come irrelevant in time.

I propose the following regarding reality:

1. Causality Rules.
All things happen according to causality. Things happen the way they do because at the time and place of the happening, that is the only way things could have happened. My wife prefers chocolate flavour while I prefer vanilla flavour. Our preferences differ because of differences in our respective genes, environments, nutrients and experiences. If YOU had my genes, environments, nutrients and experiences you would be me and typing these words exactly where and when I am right now. And if I had your genes, environments, nutrients and experiences I would be YOU reading these words exactly where and when YOU are as you read this. We make choices but our choices are not free from causality, our choices are constrained by causality. The inevitable has happened, is happening and will continue to happen. Causality rules.

Wrong. The n-body problem and the halting problem whereby there are systems that are undecidable means that there are situations which have no meaningful cause.

Your examples of genes, environment etc are just not possible. The Heisenberg uncertainty principle assures us of that.

So Causality isn't guaranteed.

2. Compassion Soothes.
Life is full of suffering. Compassion cannot prevent all suffering but it can soothe those who are suffering. This is why I am a compassionist. You have suffered before and will suffer more and you will die. This is why I love you. If I were omnipotent, there would be no suffering anywhere in the omniverse but I am not omnipotent. I am a prisoner of causality, just as you are a prisoner of causality.

[/quote]
As mentioned causality isn't guaranteed so therefore the future isn't defined and we can change the future to what we want it to be.

[Compassionist]

Hi, sorry it took me so long to reply. I have been very busy. I love the 'Culture Universe' and certainly hope that money will become irrelevant, preferably right now.

Regarding Heisenberg's Uncertainty principle, please note the following:
Just because WE can't know both the velocity and location of a particle such as an electron or positron it doesn't mean that it doesn't have a velocity and location. Our incapability to know something does not make it outwith causality. You are incapable of knowing what name my brother had - it doesn't mean that he didn't have a name. Just as you and I are incapable of knowing whether he is experiecing life after death or not. Our incapability is entirely due to causality.

Also, there is a difference between quantum level of reality and the human perceived reality. Just because everything is mostly nothing (after all, atoms are mostly space where electrons whizz around the nucleus) it doesn't mean that if you jump off a very high building you will survive the fall the way Neo did in the Matrix - please don't try this - trust me, you will die if you try this. In our every day reality, the quantum uncertainty does not translate to macro-level uncertainty. If you chop your head off, you will die - there is no uncertainty about that.

You said, "The n-body problem and the halting problem whereby there are systems that are undecidable means that there are situations which have no meaningful cause." Please excuse my ignorance but I don't know about these problems you mention. Kindly elaborate. Despite this caveat, my points regarding causality stands. Our ignorance of the location and velocity of sub-atomic particles does not make the particles escape the constrains of causality.

You said, "As mentioned causality isn't guaranteed so therefore the future isn't defined and we can change the future to what we want it to be." Causality exists. If you review what I have said in this post you will realise that our ignorance of the location and velocity of subatomic particles does not negate causality. It merely prevents us from predicting the future position of a subatomic particle. Ignorance at the quantum level does not translate to ignorance at the everyday level of our perceived reality. If you guillotine your head off, I predict with 100% certainty that unless your brain is infused with nutrients such as oxygent and glucose or ketone you will die.

Also, quantum uncertainty does not detract from my G.E.N.E. (genes, environments, nutrients and experiences) hypotheses.

Just to clarify further, by genes, I literally mean the genes in our chromosomes. By environments I mean physical variables such as pH, temperature, etc. By nutrients I mean oxygen, carbohydrate, protein, fat, salt, minerals, vitamins and water. By experience, I mean everything experienced by living things since the formation of a nervous system in the womb (or its equivalent in other non-human species). This includes listening to your Mum's hearbeat and classical music and noise of the traffic. This includes having your poo cleaned up or otherwise. This includes being exposed to one or more languages. This includes being cuddled or beaten up. This includes being hugged or raped or tortured. This includes the experience of YOU READING THIS RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW. Causality rules. If you can refute my hypothesis, please do. I would only be too glad to be proven wrong and will give you whatever you want.

Yes, we have a limited amount of choice permitted to us by causality. But this is entirely according to causality. If you knew that the flight you are about to take was going to be crashed into a building by hijackers and you were not suicidal, you would not take the flight. The choice to avoid flying on this occasion is contingent upon your desire to continue being alive and your knowledge that the plane was going to be crashed into a building. Causality rules. You can choose but you can choose only according to causality.

[McCulloch]

Causality rules.

Wrong. The n-body problem and the halting problem whereby there are systems that are undecidable means that there are situations which have no meaningful cause.

The n-body problem and the halting problem proves that there are systems which have results which are not computable. You cannot infer from that they have no meaningful cause. For instance, in the halting problem, every individual input stream must either halt or not. Whether it halts or not is caused by the values in the input stream and the algorithm being used. Causality still rules.

As mentioned causality isn't guaranteed so therefore the future isn't defined and we can change the future to what we want it to be.

It is unprovable and untestable to say that the future can be changed. You may act and your action will influence the future. But is it even possible that you could have acted in a different way? How do you even entertain the idea that you could possibly do anything other than what you have done, given the exact same circumstances?

[Compassionist]

Causality rules.

Wrong. The n-body problem and the halting problem whereby there are systems that are undecidable means that there are situations which have no meaningful cause.

The n-body problem and the halting problem proves that there are systems which have results which are not computable. You cannot infer from that they have no meaningful cause. For instance, in the halting problem, every individual input stream must either halt or not. Whether it halts or not is caused by the values in the input stream and the algorithm being used. Causality still rules.

As mentioned causality isn't guaranteed so therefore the future isn't defined and we can change the future to what we want it to be.

It is unprovable and untestable to say that the future can be changed. You may act and your action will influence the future. But is it even possible that you could have acted in a different way? How do you even entertain the idea that you could possibly do anything other than what you have done, given the exact same circumstances?

Thanks for explaining the N-body problem and the halting problem. I agree with your point. Some things are not computable e.g. the location and velocity of an electron at the same time - we can know only one of the two but not both. That does not make the electron exempt from causality, it just makes us ignorant of its location and velocity at the same time.

I also agree with your point, if given identical variables in the domains of G.E.N.E. (genes, environments, nutrients and experiences) anyone's choices would be identical in identical circumstances.

I have gone without any food for up to 240 hours. I was taking only still water during this period of fasting. But I could not go without breathing for that long. In fact, I could manage only one minute without breathing. This is clear evidence that I do not have free will. I can't even stop breathing never mind stop dying or stop all suffering. I am a prisoner of causality, so are you.

[Compassionist]

To quote Iain M. Banks, "Money is a sign of poverty", which is taken from The Culture universe and it means that money is a symbol of a poor society. In a post-scarcity world, money is irrelevant.

What you are using as a bribe I believe will be come irrelevant in time.

Just to clarify, I am not using the 1 Taka as a bribe. I don't bribe. I am using it as a symbolic and tongue-in-cheek incentive, although the challenge itself should be incentive enough to any enquiring mind. I am well aware that unless you are omnipotent, you will be unable to break these conundrums. Whethere it is 1 Taka or 1 Cent or 1 Penny is not the issue. The issue is that unless you are omnipotent you will be unable to break my infinite conundrums for all. Do prove me wrong if you can. I love being wrong about things because by being shown to be wrong, I can learn and grow into a more informed being.