Vance Booker

Just war theory is the principle on which the theory of “war crimes” is based. It is an attempt to find a balance between those who hold that you cannot find anything “more or less ethical” during a war (the whole enterprise is wrong) vs those who say “there are no rules during war, everything goes”. One of the least controversial principles…[Read more]

So actually, yeah, since Pluto is technically not a planet (but a dwarf one) Earth’s moon is, technically the largest moon in the system relative to the planet it orbits. So not entirely wrong! 🙂

Ehhh, Ganymede is larger than our moon (it is in fact larger than Mercury). There are in fact four moons larger than our moon. In terms of size and mass relative to the planet it orbits, Chiron is half the diameter and an eight the mass of Pluto, this is much much much greater than our moon relative to Earth. In fact, Chiron is so large relative…[Read more]

Turns out, ufff…Croatia was massacred. Was painful to watch. To my surprise, the pool I’m in gives out a little cash to the 4th and 3rd place team so at least I get a pint or two out of it. Argentina easily deserved that win.

If by some miracle Morocco wins tomorrow, then we will have the first final without a European team since 1950, and the…[Read more]

The United States is rightfully dragged through the mud Enco. Get over it. Your country does inexcusable appalling shit on a daily basis around the world and it trails at the bottom of the developed world in things like income disparity, education, racism, neglect of those in need, healthcare for all, violence, police abuse and toxic politics.…[Read more]

Risky decision, seemed to have not worked unfortunately. On the one hand, you cannot have a player emboldened by being a disruptive diva, on the other hand, you certainly want your best player on the field. There is an argument about whether he is the best player anymore. Unfortunately we won’t have a chance to see what comes afterwards as they…[Read more]

As I no longer live in Spain, I thought I was less attached, until I saw the horrific penalties between Morrocco and Spain. It was dire, painful and slightly heart breaking.

Watching France play England in Scotland was absolutely hilarious. Everyone at the viewing party (30 of us) was supporting France (anyone but England) except an English…[Read more]

Unseen, you haven’t explained anything. You’ve just stated that we make decisions because we do one thing rather than another (huh?), despite the fact that we could not have done otherwise. Such a decision is empty of responsibility. Sorry you cannot see that. I don’t think we will go any further with that. If you want to eat the whole cake and…[Read more]

I am not forcing you to accept anything. You posted a video saying she speaks for you better than you could, where she defines non-free will as the inability of an agent to do other than they have done. This by the way, does not necessarily infer predeterminism. It does exclude an agents ability to have done anything else.

She clearly says…[Read more]

She specifically says that you cannot do B, C, D…Z instead of A. If A is the only possible outcome, choice, alternatives, even decisions are illusions. If free will (as she describes it) is an illusion, so are all of the above. You cannot have both. A rock isn’t responsible for falling in a particular direction, nor is a person who cannot but do…[Read more]

This person loses me at 8:33. She is conflating something akin to a “reaction” to someone’s behaviour with “responsibility”. Yes, it doesn’t sound controversial that if x does this, that y will retaliate. However, that is not the same as saying that x is “responsible” for what they did. Unseen, the person could NOT have done other than they had…[Read more]

Unseen, it is an illusion that we make decisions if we cannot but do what we have done. Adding “another level” or talking about “the every day” as though it is somehow divorced from determinism is just a gross copout. I don’t understand how situating it in the “every day” avoids the consequences of your certainty that there is no free will.  No…[Read more]

So my answer to your question is that we can make decisions because of the language we use when talking about them at the shallow level.

So you’ve introduced a magical shallow level where this all magically makes sense. Bravo unseen, you’ve attempted to answer my question by giving me a post-modernesque non-answer. Groan.

Unseen, how can someone make a decision if they cannot have done otherwise? That is like saying a computer makes a decision when in reality it is following a code it cannot but follow. It is not even that different to saying a rock makes a decision in which way it rolls down a hill. That the human phenomena is vastly more complex is irrelevant, if…[Read more]

My mistake Jake. Thanks for the clarification

(see Enco…see how easy it is to concede a point and admit you misconstrued someone else’s argument)!