The role of chance and contingency in life (Introduction)

by Balance_Maintained @, U.S.A., Tuesday, January 20, 2015, 07:50 (3356 days ago) @ David Turell

George: The orbits of asteroid and Earth may be calculable to an extent, but not over the whole history of the evolution of the solar system. Tiny differences in events, possibly down to the level of quantum uncertainty combined with chaos make it incalculable, even by an impossible being with infinitely improbable capabilities, like a Maxwell's demon, and is therefore random. 
> > 
> > Was going to say something else but have forgotten what!-I don't believe I said they were, but simply because we can not calculate backwards does not mean they were random. That is illogical, and akin to saying that because you lack the information/capability to know what happened it must be random. Ignorance is not equivalent with randomness. -Further, knowing the ultimate outcome of something does not require knowledge of every minute detail, only a good understanding of the way things work. I see good examples of this all the time in Game Design. I understand the systems I design, not in a superficial way, but in a deep and meaningful way. I don't have to know what each and every player will do to know what the end result of them playing the game will be. I know the possible outcomes, I know the likelihood of those outcomes, and even if the player runs in circles for days and wanders about aimlessly for a while, I know what the outcome will be.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.


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