Re: Making your mind up

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Sujet : Re: Making your mind up
De : {$to$} (at) *nospam* meden.demon.co.uk (Ernest Major)
Groupes : talk.origins
Date : 26. Apr 2024, 12:42:17
Autres entêtes
Organisation : A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID : <v0g3uq$3m0h6$1@dont-email.me>
References : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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On 26/04/2024 08:27, Martin Harran wrote:
On Wed, 24 Apr 2024 08:45:37 -0700, Mark Isaak
<specimenNOSPAM@curioustaxon.omy.net> wrote:
 
On 4/22/24 2:12 AM, Martin Harran wrote:
rOn Thu, 18 Apr 2024 18:36:48 -0700, Mark Isaak
<specimenNOSPAM@curioustaxon.omy.net> wrote:
>
On 4/7/24 8:01 AM, Martin Harran wrote:
On Sat, 6 Apr 2024 10:22:18 +0000, j.nobel.daggett@gmail.com (LDagget)
wrote:
>
Martin Harran wrote:
>
On Fri, 5 Apr 2024 16:29:20 -0500, DB Cates <cates_db@hotmail.com>
wrote:
>
On 2024-04-05 11:05 AM, Martin Harran wrote:
There was quite an interesting discussion a few weeks ago on Free Will
vs Determinism but it died a death, at least in part due to the
departure of some contributors to the Land Beyond GG. I'd like to take
up some of the issues again if anyone is interested.
>
One point made by Hemidactylus that didn't get developed any further
was the way that we sometimes give a lot of time and effort into
making a decision - he gave the example of buying a car. It's also
common for someone to want to "sleep it on it" before making a
decision where the decision is important but it is not clear what
decision is best. If a decision is essentially predetermined then what
is the point of that time and effort or sleeping on it?
>
Do you not see that this argument depends on the belief that there was
an *option* to make the decision earlier under different conditions
(lack of 'thinking it over' and/or 'sleeping on it'). IOW that free will
exists. You are 'begging the question'.
>
It's actually the complete opposite, I am starting with the assumption
that there is no free will and asking what then is the point in
deliberating over the various options. You seem to be taking things a
bit further and saying that if determinism exists then there aren't
any options to begin with but that is just a variation in emphasis, it
doesn't address the question of why we spend so much time pondering
those options when they don't even exist.
>
You missed his point.
Consider writing an algorithm controlling a robot walking down a path.
The robot comes to a fork in the road. Does it take the left fork or
the right fork?
>
The robot has no free will. It can, however, process data.
>
The algorithm can have layered complexity. Scan left, scan right,
process data. Simple-minded algorithm scans 1 sec each way, sums up
some score of positive and negatives and picks the best. If it's a
tie, it might kick the random number generator into gear.
>
Alternatively, it can get into a loop where it keeps scanning left
and right until one "choice" passes a threshold for "better" that
is not just a greater than sign, maybe 10% better or such. From
the outside, this is "pause to think". With a little imagination,
one can add much more complexity and sophistication into how the
robot chooses. It can be dynamically adjusting the thresholds. It
can use it's wifi connection to seek external data. It can find that
its wifi signal is poor at the fork in the road so back up to where
it was better.
>
Map "go home and sleep on it" to some of that or to variants.
Map it into Don's words. The robot could not "choose" left or
right until its algorithm met the decision threshold, i.e. it
didn't have a legitimate option yet. (hopefully he'll correct
me if I have abused his intent too far)
>
To an outside observer lacking full knowledge of the algorithm,
it looked like it had a choice but inexplicably hesitated.
>
It is *you* who have missed the point. What you have described above
is an algorithm to process data and arrive at a decision; what I was
asking about is why we delay once all the information that is
available or likely to be available *has been processed*. Once all the
information has been input in your algorithm there is no reason for
the processor to continue analysing unless you add in some sort of
rather pointless "just hang about for a while" function; no matter how
many times your algorithm runs with a given set of inputs, it will
reach the same decision.
>
The answer to that is simple: Once all information is in, it has *not*
all been processed. The decider may have thought about price, quality,
ease of cleaning, subjective appreciation of pattern (for both self and
one or two others), and availability, but there are undoubtedly
tradeoffs midst all that data that cannot be expressed in six-variable
differential equation, much less in something that you could decide by
reasoning. Furthermore, there are innumerable other factors that the
decider probably did not consider on the first pass (how does it look in
various other lightings? What, if anything, would it imply about our
social status? Is it going to remind me of Aunt Agatha's horrible
kitchen?) All of that processing takes time,
>
Which goes back to the question I have already asked here about the
underlying principle of Cost versus Benefit in Natural Selection; if
the benefits from a trait or characteristic outweigh its cost, then
that trait Is likely to be selected for; if the cost outweighs the
benefits, then it will likely be selected against; if cost and benefit
more or less balance out, then it is really down to chance whether or
not the trait well survive.
>
What you have said above highlights that there is significant cost
involved in this pondering in terms of brain resources. Can you
identify any benefits that would outweigh the cost of such pondering
when the final decision is predetermined?
>
I think you can identify such benefits yourself. For example, suppose a
tribe is faced with a decision of moving elsewhere or staying in a
marginal environment. Pondering the pros and cons can be life-saving.
 It can only be life-saving if they have control over the decision
(free will). If the decision is made for them (determinism), then the
pondering makes no difference.
Determinism isn't the same as the decision being made for them. Determinism is the decision being inevitable, given both the conditions and the agent. Change the conditions or the agent, and the decision may be different.
 
As
for the cost, that is part of the predetermination (if, indeed, the
decision is predetermined).
 I have asked the question in the context of decisions being
predetermined or at least beyond the control of the people making
them.
You are making the assumption that the decision is always the same with the pondering as it would be if have if the pondering has not occurred, i.e. that the brain processes involved in the pondering had no causal effect.
 
>
and since it is way too
complex to do consciously, the processing (probably) works best when the
brain is otherwise at rest.
>
Are you seriously suggesting that the brain is at rest when we are
sleeping?
>
Relatively, yes.  And not just when sleeping, but when relaxing over
dinner, doing routine tasks, etc.
 "The brain shows an intrinsic activity that remains independent of
external stimuli or tasks. This high level of continuous activity in
the brain is described as spontaneous, intrinsic or resting state
activity. The term resting state activity is rather paradox since it
signifies the opposite of what the term itself says: the brain is
never really at rest, and if it is at rest, it is dead, brain death,
as the neurologist says."
 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/learning-the-unwell-brain/201601/the-brain-is-always-active
  
>
One exception to that is your suggestion of a
random number generator when the two options look more or less equal
but your problem is that that randomness is very antithesis of
determinism.
>
I don't think that's true. A process can be both random and determined.
But that hinges on definitions of random, and is outside my area of
competence.
>
Sorry, I don't even know what you mean by that.
>
Not a problem. It's not a topic I will pursue.
 
--
alias Ernest Major

Date Sujet#  Auteur
5 Apr 24 * Making your mind up169Martin Harran
5 Apr 24 +* Re: Making your mind up6Arkalen
6 Apr 24 i`* Re: Making your mind up5Martin Harran
6 Apr 24 i `* Re: Making your mind up4Arkalen
9 Apr 24 i  `* Re: Making your mind up3Martin Harran
9 Apr 24 i   `* Re: Making your mind up2Arkalen
10 Apr 24 i    `- Re: Making your mind up1Martin Harran
5 Apr 24 +* Re: Making your mind up161DB Cates
6 Apr 24 i`* Re: Making your mind up160Martin Harran
6 Apr 24 i +* Re: Making your mind up90LDagget
7 Apr 24 i i+- Re: Making your mind up1DB Cates
7 Apr 24 i i`* Re: Making your mind up88Martin Harran
7 Apr 24 i i +- Re: Making your mind up1DB Cates
8 Apr 24 i i +* Re: Making your mind up10Arkalen
9 Apr 24 i i i`* Re: Making your mind up9Martin Harran
9 Apr 24 i i i +* Re: Making your mind up2Arkalen
10 Apr 24 i i i i`- Re: Making your mind up1Martin Harran
9 Apr 24 i i i `* Re: Making your mind up6DB Cates
9 Apr 24 i i i  `* Re: Making your mind up5Martin Harran
9 Apr 24 i i i   `* Re: Making your mind up4DB Cates
10 Apr 24 i i i    `* Re: Making your mind up3Martin Harran
10 Apr 24 i i i     `* Re: Making your mind up2DB Cates
11 Apr 24 i i i      `- Re: Making your mind up1Martin Harran
19 Apr 24 i i `* Re: Making your mind up76Mark Isaak
19 Apr 24 i i  +- Re: Making your mind up1FromTheRafters
19 Apr 24 i i  +* Re: Making your mind up5Arkalen
20 Apr 24 i i  i`* Re: Making your mind up4DB Cates
20 Apr 24 i i  i `* Re: Making your mind up3Arkalen
21 Apr 24 i i  i  +- Re: Making your mind up1*Hemidactylus*
22 Apr 24 i i  i  `- Re: Making your mind up1Martin Harran
22 Apr 24 i i  `* Re: Making your mind up69Martin Harran
24 Apr 24 i i   `* Re: Making your mind up68Mark Isaak
26 Apr 24 i i    `* Re: Making your mind up67Martin Harran
26 Apr 24 i i     +* Re: Making your mind up8Ernest Major
27 Apr 24 i i     i`* Re: Making your mind up7Martin Harran
27 Apr 24 i i     i `* Re: Making your mind up6Arkalen
2 May 24 i i     i  `* Re: Making your mind up5Martin Harran
2 May 24 i i     i   +* Re: Making your mind up3Arkalen
14 May 24 i i     i   i`* Re: Making your mind up2Martin Harran
21 May 24 i i     i   i `- Re: Making your mind up1Arkalen
2 May 24 i i     i   `- Re: Making your mind up1DB Cates
26 Apr 24 i i     `* Re: Making your mind up58Mark Isaak
27 Apr 24 i i      +* Re: Making your mind up42Bob Casanova
28 Apr 24 i i      i`* Re: Making your mind up41Mark Isaak
28 Apr 24 i i      i +* Re: Making your mind up2Martin Harran
29 Apr 24 i i      i i`- Re: Making your mind up1Mark Isaak
28 Apr 24 i i      i `* Re: Making your mind up38Bob Casanova
29 Apr 24 i i      i  +* Re: Making your mind up3*Hemidactylus*
4 May 24 i i      i  i`* Re: Making your mind up2*Hemidactylus*
4 May 24 i i      i  i `- Re: Making your mind up1Bob Casanova
29 Apr 24 i i      i  `* Re: Making your mind up34Mark Isaak
29 Apr 24 i i      i   +* Re: Making your mind up26Bob Casanova
30 Apr 24 i i      i   i+* Re: Making your mind up24DB Cates
30 Apr 24 i i      i   ii`* Re: Making your mind up23Bob Casanova
2 May 24 i i      i   ii `* Re: Making your mind up22DB Cates
2 May 24 i i      i   ii  `* Re: Making your mind up21Bob Casanova
2 May 24 i i      i   ii   `* Re: Making your mind up20DB Cates
3 May 24 i i      i   ii    +* Re: Making your mind up16Bob Casanova
3 May 24 i i      i   ii    i`* Re: Making your mind up15*Hemidactylus*
3 May 24 i i      i   ii    i `* Re: Making your mind up14Bob Casanova
3 May 24 i i      i   ii    i  +* Re: Making your mind up9Arkalen
3 May 24 i i      i   ii    i  i+* Re: Making your mind up5LDagget
3 May 24 i i      i   ii    i  ii+- Re: Making your mind up1Arkalen
4 May 24 i i      i   ii    i  ii+* Re: Making your mind up2DB Cates
4 May 24 i i      i   ii    i  iii`- Re: Making your mind up1*Hemidactylus*
4 May 24 i i      i   ii    i  ii`- Re: Making your mind up1*Hemidactylus*
4 May 24 i i      i   ii    i  i`* Re: Making your mind up3Bob Casanova
4 May 24 i i      i   ii    i  i `* Re: Making your mind up2Arkalen
4 May 24 i i      i   ii    i  i  `- Re: Making your mind up1Bob Casanova
3 May 24 i i      i   ii    i  `* Re: Making your mind up4*Hemidactylus*
4 May 24 i i      i   ii    i   `* Re: Making your mind up3Bob Casanova
4 May 24 i i      i   ii    i    `* Re: Making your mind up2*Hemidactylus*
4 May 24 i i      i   ii    i     `- Re: Making your mind up1Bob Casanova
3 May 24 i i      i   ii    `* Re: Making your mind up3Martin Harran
4 May 24 i i      i   ii     `* Re: Making your mind up2DB Cates
14 May 24 i i      i   ii      `- Re: Making your mind up1Martin Harran
30 Apr 24 i i      i   i`- Re: Making your mind up1Arkalen
29 Apr 24 i i      i   `* Re: Making your mind up7*Hemidactylus*
29 Apr 24 i i      i    `* Re: Making your mind up6Bob Casanova
29 Apr 24 i i      i     +* Re: Making your mind up2erik simpson
30 Apr 24 i i      i     i`- Re: Making your mind up1Bob Casanova
29 Apr 24 i i      i     +- Re: Making your mind up1*Hemidactylus*
30 Apr 24 i i      i     `* Re: Making your mind up2Martin Harran
30 Apr 24 i i      i      `- Re: Making your mind up1Bob Casanova
27 Apr 24 i i      `* Re: Making your mind up15Martin Harran
29 Apr 24 i i       `* Re: Making your mind up14Mark Isaak
30 Apr 24 i i        +* Re: Making your mind up3Arkalen
30 Apr 24 i i        i`* Re: Making your mind up2Martin Harran
4 May 24 i i        i `- Re: Making your mind up1Arkalen
30 Apr 24 i i        `* Re: Making your mind up10Martin Harran
1 May 24 i i         `* Re: Making your mind up9Mark Isaak
1 May 24 i i          +* Re: Making your mind up7Martin Harran
2 May 24 i i          i`* Re: Making your mind up6Mark Isaak
2 May 24 i i          i +- Re: Making your mind up1LDagget
2 May 24 i i          i `* Re: Making your mind up4Arkalen
2 May 24 i i          i  +* Re: Making your mind up2Mark Isaak
2 May 24 i i          i  i`- Re: Making your mind up1Arkalen
2 May 24 i i          i  `- Re: Making your mind up1DB Cates
2 May 24 i i          `- Re: Making your mind up1Arkalen
7 Apr 24 i `* Re: Making your mind up69DB Cates
7 Apr 24 i  `* Re: Making your mind up68Martin Harran
19 Apr 24 `- Re: Making your mind up1Mark Isaak

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