X-Message-Number: 17542
From: 
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 09:21:52 EDT
Subject: dualism

Dave Pizer (#17534) asks for thoughts on dualism etc., and while it may seem 
silly to try to say anything brief and meaningful in this area, I can't 
resist a few words.

First, I think "dualism" is a poorly chosen word. As Dave and many others 
have noted, if one set of phenomena or systems can influence another, then 
they are part of the same universe. Therefore "mind" and "matter" should be 
thought of as, at most, no more distinct than, say, particles and radiation, 
which are very different yet interact. 

A better possible distinction--subject to investigation and 
falsification--might be between one-way and two-way interactions. Is it 
possible for A to influence B with no reciprocation? No one knows, but I 
suspect there is a kind of generalized Newton's Third Law that says all 
interactions must be reciprocal. (The case of simulations is interesting in 
this connection, but I don't want to get into that again now.)

Finally (?) there is the question of "ultimate" causes or causelessness and 
the possibility or meaninglessness of "randomness." Again, too much to repeat 
or extend here.

Robert Ettinger

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