Friday, August 3, 2012

Why magic doesn't work 0

I have to set a few assumptions to understand anything about the world, here they are.

  1. This reality exists.  The universe, everything in it and the physical laws governing it all exist.  This dismounts the "What if you're a brain connected to the matrix?" question.  The fact of the matter is that even if we're all scripts in a computer simulation, the computer simulation exists.  So reality is contextual to the sentient minds that comprehend it.
  2. Reality is consistent.  A reaction based on a given set of variables will produce an exactly similar result when repeated.
  3. We can learn about reality.  Because reality is consistent, we can form models with predictive capability.
  4. Models with predictive capability are better than those without it.  If reality exists and is consistent, we can learn about it by forming models on the way things behave.  If we can form a model on the way something behaves that will explain it and it's likely future behavior, that model necessarily is better than a model on the way something behaves which explains something and has little to no input on what will likely happen.  If I mix baking soda and vinegar, I could postulate that some god is offended by the mixing of these ingredients.  That tells me nothing about what is happening.  On the other hand I could work out the way that acids interact with bases, which not only describes that reaction, but any reaction involving those two categories on any scale.

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