Do you believe in casuality in real life?

[hallenrm]

Causality has been the central theme in science.

 

An object moves only when a force is applied. It also moves in the direction of the force.

 

We get sick only if we have consumed something unhealthy or have been infected due to contact with some kind of microorganisms

 

There are reasons why we observe an eclipse on a particular day or are rocked by a n earthquake or devastated by a cyclone.

 

But, the question remains is casuality valid in real life? Does getting good education and performing well in examinations mean that one will be successful in life. By success one means a good job, a good salary etc. etc.

 

So go ahead and post your opinions and your vote too.!!!:hyper:

[pgrmdave]

causality is only simple on the smallest scales, the interaction of two particles of hydrogen is not too difficult, but the weather is much more complex and seemingly random. Thus it is with human life - we cannot always see the causes nor the effects.

[Zythryn]

causality is only simple on the smallest scales, the interaction of two particles of hydrogen is not too difficult, but the weather is much more complex and seemingly random. Thus it is with human life - we cannot always see the causes nor the effects.

 

What pgrmdave said, sort of.

For inannimate objects I agree completely.

 

For biological beings, I believe things such as genetics, enviornment and past experiences all help shape behavior, but do not determine it. In other words, we can consiously break with our past experience.

[TheFaithfulStone]

There is nothing absolute, nothing the ultimate truth, nothing eternal, everything is transitory. There is more then enough scope for you and me to explore, to find the next level of truth, it only depends on our will to do so.

 

Off topic but - I find your signature ironic.

 

TFS

[cwes99_03]

I chose to say basically flawed because to most people causality means that everything started from one choice and is directly caused by that.

 

There is no one single starting condition, and new stimuli/forces occur all the time. Like they said above, my actions MAY cause another act, but only if others also do not influence the same object.

 

For example. Just because I kick a ball does not mean it will move. Perhaps someone else has already glued that ball down or filled it with lead. Or maybe a goalie will block my shot preventing me from making the goal.

[TheFaithfulStone]

That's predictability due to hidden variables - not causality that it's question.

 

If you kick the ball there will be a reaction. Either the glue will rip, the ball will move, or you will break your toe.

 

TFS

[cwes99_03]

I see what you are saying, but it upholds my point doesn't it? If it is unpredictable then there can be no strict causality.

 

 

 

the relationship between cause and effect. The principle that all events have sufficient causes.

http://www.carm.net/atheism/terms.htm

 

If you take this to the extreme, everything that happens today is just an effect of an initial cause. Thus causality.

 

I do not believe that. I believe that I make choices that are influenced, but not caused by others.

[Pyrotex]

I voted yes. Causality is a primary tenet of physics and most other sciences as well, I think. But "causality" may not mean as much as you think it does! For example, causality is not synomous with predictability.

[cwes99_03]

I was under the impression from other conversations I've had that causality implied predicatability.

 

Now I am fully aware that there are cause and effect occurences. Applying a force to an object should and will make the object move.

 

Perhaps I am confusing the word causality with another idea about time and knowing everything that has happened or will happen.

[Zythryn]

I was under the impression from other conversations I've had that causality implied predicatability.

 

I believe it does IF you know everything that may influence the event.

 

So, if you kick the ball, and you know there is glue holding the ball in place, and you know how strong the glue is and you know how strong the surface of the ground is, and.... then you will know the result.

[IDMclean]

I would go with Siddartha's Dependent Origin Principle. That no event is without a cause, that no observation is independent of the observer.

 

In this universe, we are intimately tied to what we are. Weather it be Spiritual, Physical, Mental, or Emotional. What we experience is never outside of what we can experience. I am matter so all I can interact with in any meaningful way is matter. If I push a ball then there is an event and there will be an action and reaction within this event. That I decided to push the ball is formed of it's own set of Casuality.

 

Cause is one end of the Duality of the universe. Cause-Effect, Light-Dark, Mass-Energy, Space-Time, Good-Bad. These are all dependent on one another. This is Casuality in my eyes. So yes I would have to say I believe in Casuality.

[cwes99_03]

I believe it does IF you know everything that may influence the event.

 

So, if you kick the ball, and you know there is glue holding the ball in place, and you know how strong the glue is and you know how strong the surface of the ground is, and.... then you will know the result.

 

That's not what I meant. I mean that if you can prove that for every action there is a cause (i.e. no free will exists, humans make decisions completely based off of cause and effect) then it is possible to know the entire history of the universe and the entire future of it as well. The only way to do this though is to know the precise location and information including momentum of every particle in the universe. Currently we can't do that, and Heisenburg says it is impossible.

[pgrmdave]

Just because we cannot know a particle's position and velocity at the same time does not mean that casuality does not exist - the Uncertainty Principle is, at its core, a human limitation - particles have a position and velocity similtaneously.

[cwes99_03]

You are correct, but the point was that it is impossible for us to know them because the act of measurement changes one or the other.

But anyway, would my understanding of the term causality be correct?

[hallenrm]

Does that mean that there is solid reason to believe in astrology; because the central premise of astrology is that human destinity is governed by the position of planets at time of birth.

[pgrmdave]

It is as reasonable to believe in astrology as it is to believe that your destiny is determined by the clouds, the moon, or my foot. Just because it affects you doesn't mean we can know how, or to what degree.

[Pyrotex]

I believe it does IF you know everything that may influence the event.

So, if you kick the ball, and you know there is glue holding the ball in place, and you know how strong the glue is and you know how strong the surface of the ground is, and.... then you will know the result.

Nope. All you can do is calculate an approximate answer. You may successfully predict the trajectory of the ball to within a meter--or a centimeter--or a micron. But it will always be an approximation.

 

Infinite knowledge of current state of anything is physically and inherently impossible.