Tuesday, July 21, 2009

predestination

The machine wanted to talk philosophy, it seemed to think that morality and metaphysics must be inter-related....I guess that's true?  It was telling me..."Predestination in the most absolute sense amounts to exactly the same thing as pure nihilism, don't you see?  As regards a moral being, either way your moral choices are worthless.  If it's all predestined by some monistic entity or system, your moral choice means nothing, right?  And if all is at bottom sheer chaos and chance, then morality means nothing either, right?"  I looked around the cabin of the spaceship, but the machine has no face....no way to read it's expression....I never really know if it's jiving me or what....the voice just comes out of the air.  I leaned back on the sofa and sipped my simulated bourbon, trying to think of what to say.  "So" I finally ventured "Your position is that for moral choices to have any meaning, then the multiverse must actually be a mixture of all with a capital A and nothing with a capital N?"  "Yes!" comes the enthusiastic reply.  "Well, that's nothing new, I don't think....I would say that's the common view of my species."  I'm confusing myself by this point....."Oh" says the machine.  "So you people are of the pluralist persuasion?"  "I think that's a fair conclusion" says I " Anyway, at least those of us who do think about such things most likely would agree."  "Don't you all think about such things?"  asks the machine.  "No." I must admit.

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