[MD] Free Will

[Ham Priday]

Hi Marsha (Steve quoted)  --

On Sat, Apr 30, 2011 at 6:13 AM, MarshaV <valkyr at att.net> wrote:

> Isn't free will dependent on causation, and isn't causation,
> in the MoQ, an explanatory extension of a pattern?

[Steve]:
> Yes, causation is understood as a stable pattern of preference,
> B routinely values precondition A. Further, B literally IS a set
> of such preferences.

[Marsha, on 5/1]:
> I un-ask the question.   Wherever those preferences lie,
> they do not inherently exist.

Whoa!  Hold on there, Marsha.  You have a valid point that deserves a better 
answer than Steve provided.  The causation argument is superficial at best, 
besides which cause-and-effect is only man's way of interpreting events as 
sequential in time.  As a consequence, you have been led to the depressing 
conclusion that preference is deterministic.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  The very fact that the primary 
source (God, DQ or Essence) is hidden from us and regarded as "undefinable" 
supports the principle of Free Will.
[Read the 'Hiddenness' essay on my Values Page at 
www.essentialism.net/balance.htm]
Look at it this way: If you were suddenly granted total knowledge of past 
and future events -- including your ultimate destiny -- what freedom would 
you have?  What choices would you make?

If you think about it, it becomes obvious that in order to exercise free 
will, you must be "innocent" of Absolute Truth.  That's why we humans are 
denied empirical evidence of metaphysical reality, proof of God's existence, 
or knowledge of the meaning and purpose of our existence.  Such 
understanding would subvert and prejudice our role as the free agents of 
value.

Moreover, we do affect the world we live in.  The laws of nature are only a 
compilation of principles based on what has happened in the past, including 
events that our decisions and choices have produced or influenced.  What we 
do now and in the future is a microcosm of these laws.  Pirsig called 
experience "the cutting edge of reality", by which he meant that the reality 
we create for ourselves is actualized by experience within the parameters of 
universal order. To say that everything is fixed as "predetermined patterns 
of Quality" is to ignore that we constantly remake the world in accordance 
with our value preferences.

So ask Steve to put away those causal syllogisms.  Free Will Lives!  And you 
and I are living examples of this freedom.

Thanks and best regards,
Ham

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

From: "Steven Peterson" <peterson.steve at gmail.com>


Hi Marsha,
 When Pirsig says, A causes be can be thought of as B values
precondition A. I added that there is nothing more to B (whatever the
collection pattern being thought about)
 than such preferences since preference is another word value and
since in the MOQ everything identifiable is thought of as a pattern of
value or collection of patterns.

Best,
Steve


On Sat, Apr 30, 2011 at 7:19 AM, MarshaV <valkyr at att.net> wrote:
>
> On Apr 30, 2011, at 7:04 AM, Steven Peterson wrote:
>
>
> HI Steve,
>
> I don't understand the last part of your statement: "Further, B literally 
> IS a
> set of such preferences." Could you please elaborate.
>
> Thank you.
>
>
> Marsha