Messages

I like this quite a bit. Thank you!

Inappropriate habits are what kill you.

Then I'm probably going to die from drinking from water bottles that I find.

I agree, the article wasn't terribly well put together. But the subject matter (free will vs determinism) has interested / bugged me for years.

The melioration principle is a property of animal behavior. It basically says that an organism will engage in a behavior until there are greater rewards for engaging in a different behavior. To me, this crystalizes the whole issue. Animal behavior is incredibly predictable when you look at it in terms of rewards. People are just trying to maximize their rewards.

So my take on all this is that the only real way to demonstrate independence from this principle, (aka free will) is to do something that you honestly don't want to do, something that won't give you a good reward. Are you getting a better reward for defying the system than you were for trying to live within its confines? Is that defiance in itself just a function of the melioration principle?

I mean, all that squishy human stuff (choices, emotions, brain chemistry, etc) is just a product of basic physical systems and governed by basic physical laws. You can't escape it!

sorry to ramble, this is one of those topics that I get really frustrated about.

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ack! 

Next Topic: The Sound Barrier

[Professor Cramulus]

Well I think he's awesome. His novels aside, Wilson has gotten me (personally) interested in so many zany topics I probably wouldn't otherwise have thought were cool. And if that's mind control, I'm happy to be his robot mind slave, spouting his memes, crapping around, all that jazz


Very Sincerely Yours,


Professor Cramulus
"In the absence of infidel justice, there is awesome motion."

[Professor Cramulus]

NT: Celebrity chainsaw juggling

Day after the show:
Blood all over the tabloids
Some good looking stumps




Yours Truly

Professor Cramulus
"Harder than you Think!"

[Professor Cramulus]

Inevitably Yours,


Professor Cramulus
"Ask me about Relative Dating!"

[Professor Cramulus]

With All Due Respect,


Professor Cramulus
"An erect erection is insurrection!"