RE: Counterfactual?

From: Stathis Papaioannou <stathispapaioannou.domain.name.hidden>
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2006 21:30:41 +1000

John Mikes writes:

> Peter:
> "... A counterfactual is a COUNTERfactual - -it is
> something that could have happenned but didn't. There is no
> reason why we should be conscious of in things
> we coudl have done but didn't. ..."
>
> JM:
> It could not have happened in another way if it did happen THIS way.. WE may
> think - in our limited circle of knowledge - that something else was also
> viable, but in the deterministic world of a total (unlimited, not
> model-enclosed) interconnectedness - whatever happened, was "the" possible
> way of events.
> I am not talking about HP universes or thought experiments.

Yes: the mere fact that we *think* it could have happened differently does not
mean that it could have happened differently. It could be that there is just a single
deterministic universe and we are just playing out our lives like actors in a film. God
knows exactly how I'm going to finish this sentence, even if I don't until after the fact.

Stathis Papaioannou
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Received on Wed Aug 30 2006 - 07:32:48 PDT

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