tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13617569.post19863601790582981..comments2024-03-27T02:13:58.088-07:00Comments on Integral Options Cafe: Jeff Carreira - Charles Darwin and the Directionality of Evolutionwilliam harrymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06981478282688361274noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13617569.post-40879759880592462692009-04-22T04:53:00.000-07:002009-04-22T04:53:00.000-07:00This is a VERY interesting question! And I think t...This is a VERY interesting question! And I think the reason why it is so interesting is that obviously - if you take a 50,000 ft perspective - there is directionality. But if you acknowledge this fact then you find yourself immediately in the position of having to question where it is coming from or where it is leading to. And while I somewhere know that there is purpose I have avoided the challenge to really look into this question - and that is why I very much welcome Carreira's inquiry. I am curious about where it is going and what I can learn.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02631549755189328021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13617569.post-89794216875501213762009-04-20T07:33:00.000-07:002009-04-20T07:33:00.000-07:00We don't see free-floating mountain tops, because ...We don't see free-floating mountain tops, because mountain tops <I>become</I> mountain tops by virtue of resting on everything beneath them. Whether the top of the mountain came to rest there as a result of intention or chance is much less interesting to me than the relationship between the top and the base, and the way that a whole mountain results from the interaction of the two.<br /><br />I think we, as conscious beings, have a tendency to attribute consciousness to (i.e. personify) a wide variety of things we can not communicate with. When we talk about the intentionality of the universe, I tend to see personification at work. But causality is a sticky wicket in general.<br /><br />From a postmodern contextual viewpoint (and on forward from there), I think the recognition that attributing causality is essentially interpretive, rather than a reflection of a single real truth, necessitates a shift in the question. Rather than asking "Is there intentionality?", we might ask "What do we interpret to be the cause -- and why do we interpret it that way?"Karl Higleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05894986034460277209noreply@blogger.com