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Pastimes : Ask John Galt...
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To: Krowbar who wrote (673)10/26/1996 11:33:00 PM
From: Maurice Winn   of 4006
 
Delbert, Hello, you have been talking about a subject of much interest to me. Is John a robot? I think so. But he should not feel insulted by that. The mere experience of insult would be some confirmation of the fact. No doubt he will hasten to deny feelings of insult too. But he has made some excllent points and he is helping drive the irrational dark pools of ignorance into the void where they belong. Of course irrationality and ignorance creates its own demise and Galt knows that. So he could relax a little. He won't find rational nirvana in his lifetime or his own being. He will find much more than in an earthworm but far less than Shalom's Dog Theory propounds.

He denies it, but his behaviour is determined.

Did he say that there are random events? Remarkable for one who espouses a rational approach to how things work. We need to not get hung up on word games here and he might simply say random means random as far as we can tell, but as you point out [well I guess you did anyway], there are no random events. They all repeat certain behaviour patterns. A favourite is "spontaneous" decomposition of radioactive elements, but these decompositions are not random. They happen when the nucleus gets sick of sitting there doing nothing.

The rejection of the idea seems to be part of a wish to be a "thinking" self creating, egocentric being. To be an automaton is a bit of a let down to some people. Whereas it should be liberating. No need to fear goblins and irrational magic. All is real - we can act out all of our being with no fear of spooks or Santa Claus, randomness or Dog. We can enjoy experiences and knowledge which fit a rational, determined world.

Maurice
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