Philosophy thread

[Disco King]

I mean, some counterfactuals seem coherent. It seems possible that you could had worn a different shirt today. It seems possible that Bryan could had been the 27th president of the United States, rather than Taft.

But is it in the same way possible that Coulomb's constant could had had a value 6% greater than what it actually is? Or that entropy could decrease with time?

[ohnoitsbonnie]

That's a really good question.

[FoolofaTook]

Yes it touched me 2

[reprise85]

Originally Posted by Disco King

I mean, some counterfactuals seem coherent. It seems possible that you could had worn a different shirt today. It seems possible that Bryan could had been the 27th president of the United States, rather than Taft.

But is it in the same way possible that Coulomb's constant could had had a value 6% greater than what it actually is? Or that entropy could decrease with time?

Of course it's unknowable, but I think so. It seems unlikely that things had to be this one specific way to work, only that they do work in this arrangement at this specific time. But you probably have a much better grasp of the possibility or impossibility than i do

[buzzard]

Originally Posted by Disco King

could had

Why are you doing this?

[qwerty sp]

Philosophy thread lives!

[toase]

How do you deal with pessimism?

[reprise85]

Just say fuck it it'll never get better

[yo soy el mejor]

or alternatively, you can say f it because they're just thoughts. they don't have to affect your actions.

[reprise85]

It's really not that easy tho

[yo soy el mejor]

not for everyone, i agree. it wasn't for me, either, and isn't most days. but i have to try really hard to do that to reach most of my goals and i've only become better at doing so. and i find that sticking through with my intentions helps with the whole "it'll never get better" part even though i can't always realize when things are better.

[FoolofaTook]

Originally Posted by toase

How do you deal with pessimism?

Fuck that shit. Go full-bore apathetic cynic, I say.

[yo soy el mejor]

cynicism is fluid.

[FoolofaTook]

That dude is awesome. he slew live myxomatosis when i saw them.

[FoolofaTook]

I thought they went to oxford

[Trotskilicious]

yes i'm sure that if the whole radiohead thing doesn't work out he can be an english teacher

[Trotskilicious]

poots liking radiohead reminds me of paul ryan listening to rage against the machine or young david cameron singing along to that smiths song about killing the queen with a rusty spanner

[FoolofaTook]

Hannah montana likes radiohead too

[Trotskilicious]

well she's more punk rock than poots ever will be

[FoolofaTook]

I read this article in which she tried to see them backstage and they refused her.

she got mad. lol the english.

[Trotskilicious]

wayne coyne be like *waggles eyebrows*

[fuzzyroes]

Originally Posted by FlamingGlobes

haha I love this one

[fuzzyroes]

Originally Posted by scottytheoneand

I like buttons. It seems the punks are the only ones still using em as fashion accessories. Definite plus for them as far as I'm concerned.

[fuzzyroes]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

yes i'm sure that if the whole radiohead thing doesn't work out he can be an english teacher

I'm reading Matt Pinfields autobiography right now, and he talks about the screening process at MTV and how if it wasn't for them, Radiohead very well could have fallen off the face of the planet because during The Bends release not many radio stations were playing anything from it. The album was largely criticized for not having any "singles" or songs like Creep but MTV was the main driving force pushing the band, playing the tracks and keeping the band in the public eye.

If MTV had rejected the album like many of the radio-stations initially did- they could have just been a washed up band with no momentum and we'd probably never get OK Computer.

Fun to think about.

[fuzzyroes]

So thank Matt Pinfield!

[fuzzyroes]

looks a little like Corgan

[FoolofaTook]

Yeah there's something that the two of them have in common. now what could that be?

[ohnoitsbonnie]

The jawline

[Disco King]

Originally Posted by reprise85

Of course it's unknowable, but I think so. It seems unlikely that things had to be this one specific way to work, only that they do work in this arrangement at this specific time. But you probably have a much better grasp of the possibility or impossibility than i do

I think the heart of the dilemma is that, if the laws of physics are contingent and not necessary, then the question becomes, contingent on what? There would have to be some sufficient conditions for the laws of physics to be what they are. Even if we found some antecedent condition in the early universe that fixed the mass of the electron at the mass that it is, we would have to ask what the cause of that condition was. There must either be infinite regress (which seems unlikely, if the universe has a starting point), or some condition that lacks an antecedent

But if they are necessary, then in virtue of what? Other necessary truths we have seem to be necessarily true in virtue of meaning ("all bachelors are unmarried" is necessarily true in virtue of "bachelor" meaning "unmarried man;" being unmarried is contained within the concept of being a bachelor). It doesn't seem that it's true by definition that the gravitational constant is 6.8 × 10^-11 m^-3 kg^-1 s^-2. There doesn't seem to be any reason that, if the figure were different, it could not be called "the gravitational constant."

Originally Posted by buzzard

Why are you doing this?

Because I don't know any better.

[reprise85]

Del