(2021-04-18, 04:03 PM)Sciborg_S_Patel Wrote: Randomness means something happens for no reason at all. Pedesis happens because the relations influence the outcome in a non-deterministic way.The data tells us that a certain type of particle has a half-life constant that determines the half life of a large group of particles. I don't know of any data that suggests that the decay of a particular particle is predictable, so it is stochastic. I still do not understand what it means to influence something in a nondeterministic way, but that is what this thread is about.
The data bears out his claims, as in the case of half-lives. Why would we say the particles motion is deterministic, when earlier you were saying that it was random because we couldn't find out what influences the events?
Just because you can project the claim of determinism doesn't mean that is what is happening, especially since Physicalism's idea of determinism is just randomness of a special kind.
At no point did I claim that particle decay is deterministic.
~~ Paul
If the existence of a thing is indistinguishable from its nonexistence, we say that thing does not exist. ---Yahzi