Hi Maggie and LilaQs,
Maggie, I browsed through your essays - great stuff, but it'll take ages
to do it full justice.
From: Hettinger <hettingr@iglou.com>
Date: Tuesday, January 26, 1999 6:33 AM
Subject: Re: MD Moq and Shroedinger's cat.
[snip]
>I have a slightly different take on randomness. I worked through some
of
>this stuff recently, and came to the conclusion that randomness is the
>integral, dynamic part of everything that IS, (DQ), but that the
>intellectual snapshot of a system, by definition, must always leave
some of
>the randomness out. Are you saying the opposite? Randomness is
perceived
>from the lower level, the system itself?
>
What I meant is that there is no "objective" randomness. Randomness is
by definition the absence of order. You can't write a mathematical
function for randomness - in fact the so-called random-number generators
in computers actually generate ARBITRARY rather than random numbers.
Randomness and "chaos" are perceptions of lack of pattern. This is the
ultimate lack of quality - total lack of meaning. The paradox is that
apparently random individual behaviours (e.g. gas molecules) combine
together into non-random overall behaviours which can be described by
mathematical formulae or statistical distributions.
It's interesting to reflect back on Tibo's post from 12th Jan describing
the beliefs of native Brazilian tribes.
http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/9901/0109.html
<<<As for evil (that Bodvar also quoted in his message), there is a good
example: the "evil" spirit known as Anhanga' (ah-nhan-gah). As in some
african-brazilian religions (candomble', umbanda, macumba) it is not the
traditional western evil, but only a force uncontroled by any law. So,
the problem is not the harm it does, but the potential it has for doing
it since he can do anything he wants. >>>
"Anhanga" seems to be a force which destroys order and creates chaos. It
seems the very opposite of the God (Good) of Genesis who created the
world we know from a world which was "without form and void" (Hebrew
term "Tohu v'Bohu" translates as chaos).
**God vs. Anhanga** seems to me like a pretty reasonable metaphysical
definition of good vs. evil.
Jonathan
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