[MD] moq thought experiment 1.

[Marsha]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ham Priday" <hampday1 at verizon.net>
To: <moq_discuss at moqtalk.org>
Sent: Monday, July 07, 2008 1:46 AM
Subject: Re: [MD] moq thought experiment 1.



>
> [Marsha]:
>> Show me an autonomous self.  What exactly is it?
>
> All creatures are living "beings", in the sense that their existence is 
> dependent on a biological organism relating to a physical environment.  A 
> cognizant being has some measure of sensibility, so that it may be 
> regarded as a "being-aware".
> Human beings are distinguished from other creatures in that we are free to 
> act on the basis of our innate intelligence and prioritized values, rather 
> than simply driven by biological instinct.  This autonomy affords man the 
> ability to structure his world, establish the morality of his culture, and 
> direct the course of history. None of this happens "automatically", nor is 
> it the affect of something called DQ pulling the strings to make us behave 
> in a prescribed way.  It's achieved by individuals making decisions based 
> on those values held to be most beneficial to the collective society.
>
> Freedom is meaningless if it is not autonomous, and the universe is 
> designed to ensure that autonomy.  For sure, we are all "influenced" by 
> the laws of nature and subject to external conditions beyond our control. 
> And we all bear the responsibility for our free choices and actions.  But 
> because value-sensibility is the subjective essence of human experience, 
> man is uniquely created to be the choice-maker of his world.
>
> J.F. Baxter has expressed man's role in the universe far more eloquently 
> in 'The Human Paradigm':
>
> "Man is earth's Choicemaker.  The sublime and significant act of choosing 
> is, itself, the Archimedean fulcrum upon which man levers and redirects 
> the forces of cause and effect to an elected level of quality and 
> diversity. Further, it orients him toward a natural environmental 
> opportunity, freedom, and bestows earth's title, The Choicemaker, on his 
> singular and plural brow."
>
> I hope this helps to separate out the autonomy of the psychic self from 
> the natural order of experiential beingness.
>
> Best regards,
> Ham
>
>

Greetings Ham,

I asked you for a definition an autonomous self?   Your answered with a 
number of static patterns of value, analogies.  I think you prove my point 
that self is a collection of interrelated, ever-changing, static patterns of 
inorganic, biological, social and intellectual values, and not autonomous at 
all.

Please tell me?  What exactly is an autonomous self?

Marsha