On Wed, July 20, 2011 9:45, Patrick Cassidy said:
> I have used the notio0n of "possible world" to include *any* possible
> world,
> whether hypothetical, counterfactual, future projection, part of a belief
> system, etc., as well as possible actual physical universes (in a
> multiverse) other than our own that really exist. It's a useful notion.
> Is
> there some restricted specialized definition that is being discussed here? (01)
Sorry, Pat. I was referring to the concept of a multiverse and the
question of whether each of the infinitude of "possible worlds" in
such a multiverse is real. (02)
There is certainly a use in using ontologies in hypothetical, projected,
belief system, an restricted subset "possible worlds". (03)
It might be useful to partially populate a hypothetical "possible world"
that possesses some axioms that are questioned in order to see if a
contradiction occurs. This is a reductio ad absurdum technique. (04)
-- doug f (05)
> Pat
>
> Patrick Cassidy
> MICRA, Inc.
> 908-561-3416
> cell: 908-565-4053
> cassidy@xxxxxxxxx
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ontolog-forum-
>> bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of doug foxvog
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 7:52 AM
>> To: doug@xxxxxxxxxx; [ontolog-forum]
>> Subject: Re: [ontolog-forum] intangibles (was RE: Why most
>> classifications are fuzzy)
>>
>> On Tue, July 19, 2011 23:53, doug foxvog said:
>> > On Tue, July 19, 2011 10:16, Matthew West said:
>> >> ...
>> >> As far as possible worlds is concerned you should also look at
>> >> multiverses ...
>> >
>> > But such multiverses, in my understanding, are intrinsically
>> undetectable
>> > from our universe and can not affect it. Therefore, they have no
>> > predictive value
>>
>> the scientific utility of the concept of multiverses is to obviate the
>> necessity to explain why OUR universe has certain properties. The idea
>> is that there are universes with any set of properties imaginable (or
>> not)
>> and the one we happen to be in happens to have the properties which it
>> does have. Such an explanation means scientists do not have to explain
>> why various laws or constants (such as speed of light) obtain.
>>
>> Some scientists see this as an argument that there is no reason to
>> determine the reason for basic concepts and laws, feeling a need for
>> trying to determine such otherwise. As such there can be seen a
>> utility of such a model for cutting off areas of scientific inquiry.
>> But this does not mean that there is a utility of multiverse models
>> for reasoning about occurrences in our universe.
>>
>> -- doug
>>
>> > and thus could be considered non-scientific. It is
>> > similarly impossible to prove that the universe did not come into
>> > existence
>> > a millisecond ago (with all particles having positions and momenta
>> that
>> > suggest a universe of an age of ~14 billion years.
>> >
>> > Neither theory is useful for an ontological description of any given
>> > state of affairs that is not specifically dealing with such a theory.
>> >
>> > -- doug foxvog
>> >
>> >
>> >> Regards
>> >> Matthew West
>> >
>> >> Information Junction
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>> >>
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>> >>
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>> >> http://www.informationjunction.co.uk/
>> >>
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>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
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>> >> From: ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> >> [mailto:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
>> >> sowa@xxxxxxxxxxx
>> >> Sent: 19 July 2011 11:17
>> >> To: [ontolog-forum]
>> >> Subject: Re: [ontolog-forum] intangibles (was RE: Why most
>> >> classifications are fuzzy) (07)
>> >> Dear Matthew,
>> >>
>> >> The point I'm trying to make is that possible worlds don't exist.
>> >> They are
>> >> imaginary. The way you imagine them is to create some hypothesis,
>> >> theory, axioms, or specifications that generate them.
>> >>
>> >> The so-called extensional methods are superfluous. Whatever
>> >> hypothesis you
>> >> formed to generate the possible worlds contains all the information
>> >> necessary to derive whatever conclusion you could get by analyzing
>> >> the set of worlds.
>> >>
>> >> In short, the starting hypothesis is intensional. The possible
>> >> worlds are useless baggage.
>> >> They might give you some pleasure in your imagination.
>> >> They might even be useful as illustrations. But the method of
>> >> forming the initial specification for the worlds is intensional.
>> >>
>> >> John
>> >
>> >
>> > =============================================================
>> > doug foxvog doug@xxxxxxxxxx http://ProgressiveAustin.org
>> >
>> > "I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great
>> > initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be
>> ours."
>> > - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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>> =============================================================
>> doug foxvog doug@xxxxxxxxxx http://ProgressiveAustin.org
>>
>> "I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great
>> initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be
>> ours."
>> - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
>> =============================================================
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> (08)
=============================================================
doug foxvog doug@xxxxxxxxxx http://ProgressiveAustin.org (09)
"I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great
initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours."
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
============================================================= (010)
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