Richard Swinburne - What is Causation?

In a "billiard-ball world" of Newtonian science, causation was obvious—things had to touch each other in space and a cause always had to precede an effect. But quantum mechanics destroys such notions. What then is causation? Moreover, must causes always be physical? Is "mental causation" a coherent concept? What about "top-down causation"?

[BugRib]

He should have been a character in either Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings.

[jicybgd]

الله يجزاك خير من أول أطالب لترجمة هذا البرنامج الذي يستظيف علماء كثر ..ريتشارد سوينبرن رائع

[stevesayewich]

Finally, one of the few channels that treat the great questions. I read Hume early on and his ideas on causation which led me down the rabbit hole. Would love to see the tie in with the idea that there is no free will.

[daithiocinnsealach]

Very interesting. Thanks for uploading. Been having thoughts along these lines a lot recently. Looking st my family past and seeing how much the actions of grandparents and parents can affect the directions of the lives of their offspring so fundamentally.

He talks about basic actions, but speaks of them from a personal pov. But the causation of him lifting his hand was another person holding his hand down. When we think of it in universal terms then there are no basic actions. There are always just reactions.

[JM-sxrp]

The philosophical ignorance in the comments section of this channel is unsurpassed. That's why Chesterton came to the faith after reading atheist literature...

[dougg]

What causes the thought to squeeze the trigger. The light bouncing off the target and entering the eye and from there to the brain..stop.. then the thought to shoot. How or where does the thought come from.?

[caricue]

He came close to getting it when he almost separated out living things from inanimate objects. In nature, everything is interconnected and the most you can say is that there are many inputs to an event. Only a person can be a cause or determine anything since these imply some preferred outcome, and only a mind has preferences.

[jamesruscheinski]

Does causation start with subjective / conscious element, followed by effects which are regular patterns in nature described by mathematical physical laws?

[PrimitiveBaroque]

This channel is probably the closest modern attempt at Bryan McGee's interviews.

[alfredorezende-popg]

A questão da causa, portanto, é uma questão de lei.

[xspotbox]

This is why Schrodinger came up with his thought experiment about cat in a box, buggy trapped by radioactive isotope. All mater decay, there are no rules what would cause atom to transmute into some other particles, but they do. When we talk about causality, we mean entire device, not individual particles. Whatever would happen to a cat, it would be because somebody trapped it into that box, after is just a matter of time when nature will do what it must. Living and inanimate forms are simply not the same things, even if both are made from same essence.

[moayadsalih]

Mr Kuhn, you have spent your life trying to get closer to truth, but.. When are you going to get to that truth and not just close to it? Is it really that hard?

[thejackanapes]

In which a philosopher goes out of his way to demonstrate to us the fallacy of single causation, and I'm not sure he noticed it. Fascinating.
I'm not philosopher, and for sure I made the same mistake when I believed in a god named "God." Hard to fault him for it too much.

On a more charitable note: it sounds like he's talking about an issue with the Munchaussen's Trilemma - and he's describing a "brute fact" solution to it. If so, I'd agree.
But calling it a "god" and giving it contingent and _a posteriori_ attributes like will, desire, goals, plans, intentions, thoughts, feelings, personality and consciousness cannot be coherent.

[petervandenengel]

Causation is the underlying reason why something is happening, a series of following events is no underlying causation, but just the predicted chain of it.

[sturedeng]

Slightly interesting for those into the meaning of language/semantics maybe, but utterly irrelevant to how the world actually works. This is why philosophy is rightly treated with contempt by most physicists.

[bltwegmann]

None of his theory makes any sense unless you buy into the causal nature of consciousness...or free will. Many don't.

[antidrasiapologeticacrista]

David Bohn have a deterministc quantum theory! QM don't refute causation.

[tyamada]

The Law myoho-renge-kyo represents the identity of what some scientists refer to as the ‘unified field of all consciousnesses’. In other words, it’s a sound vibration that is the essence of all of existence and non-existence, the ultimate creative force behind planets, stars, nebulae, people, animals, trees, fish, birds, and all phenomena, manifest or latent. All matter and intelligence are simply waves or ripples manifesting to and from this core source. Consciousness (enlightenment) is itself the true creator of everything that is, ever was and ever will be, right down to the minutest particles of dust, each being an individual ripple or wave. The big difference between chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and most other conventional prayers is that instead of depending on a ‘middleman’ to connect us to our state of enlightenment, we’re able to do it ourselves by tapping directly into it by way of self-produced sound vibration.

On the subject of ‘Who or What Is God?’, when we compare the concept of ‘God’, as a separate entity that is forever watching down on us, to Nichiren’s teachings, the true omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence of what most people call ‘God’ is our enlightenment, which exists nowhere else but within us.

When the disciples asked Jesus where the Kingdom of God is, didn’t he tell them that it was within them?

Some say that ‘God’ is an entity that can never be seen. I think that the vast amount of information that is constantly being conveyed via electromagnetic waves gives us proof of how an invisible state of ‘God’ could actually exist. It’s widely known that certain data being relayed by way of electromagnetic waves has the potential to help bring about extraordinary and powerful effects, including instant global awareness of something or mass emotional reaction. As well as many other things, it’s also common knowledge that these waves can easily be used to detonate a bomb or to even enable NASA to control the movements of a robot as far away as the Moon or Mars. However, none of this is possible without a receiver to decode the information that is being transmitted. Without the receiver, the information would remain impotent.

In a very similar way, it’s important for us to have our ‘receiver’ switched on so that we can activate a clear and precise understanding of our life, all other life and what we and all else that exists truly is. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo helps us to achieve this because it allows us to reach into the core of our enlightenment and switch it on. That’s because the sound vibration of myoho-renge-kyo represents the combination of the three major laws that underlie all existence.

Myoho represents the Law of latency and manifestation (Nature) and consists of two alternating states. One state of myo is where everything in life that’s not obvious to us exists. This includes our stored memories when we’re not thinking about them, our hidden potential and inner emotions whenever they’re not being expressed, our desires, our fears, our wisdom, happiness, karma, and more importantly, our enlightenment. The other state, ho, is where everything in Life exists whenever it becomes obvious to us, such as when a thought pops up from within our memory, whenever we experience or express our emotions, or whenever a good or bad effect manifests from our karma. When anything becomes apparent, it simply means that it has come out of the state of ‘myo’ (dormancy/latency) and into a state of ho (manifestation). It’s simply the difference between consciousness and unconsciousness, being awake or asleep, or knowing and not knowing something.

The second law, renge, governs and controls the functions of myoho, ren meaning cause and ge meaning effect. The two laws of myoho and renge, both functions together simultaneously, as well as underlies all spiritual and physical existence.

The final and third part of the tri-combination, kyo, is what allows the law myoho to be able to integrate with the law renge. It’s the great, invisible thread of energy that fuses and connects together all Life and matter, as well as the past, present and future. It is often termed the Universal Law of Communication. Perhaps it could even be compared to the string theory that some scientists now suspect exists.

Just as our body cells, thoughts, feelings and all else are constantly fluctuating within us, everything in the world around us and beyond is also in a constant state of flux, in accordance with these three laws. In fact, more things are going back and forth between the two states of myo and ho in a single moment than it would ever be possible for us to calculate or describe. And it doesn't matter how big or small, important or trivial that anything may appear to be, everything that’s ever existed in the past exists now or will exist in the future, exists only because of the workings of myoho-renge-kyo.

These three laws are also the basis of the four fundamental forces and if they didn't function, neither we nor anything else could go on existing. Simply put, all forms of existence, including the seasons, day and night, birth, death and so on, are all moving forward in an ongoing flow of continuation, rhythmically reverting back and forth between the two universal states of myo and ho in absolute accordance with renge and by way of kyo. Even stars are dying and being reborn in accordance with the workings of what the combination myoho-renge-kyo represents.

Nam, or Namu, on the other hand, is a password or a key; it allows us to reach deep into our life and fuse with or become one with myoho-renge-kyo. On a more personal basis, nothing ever happens by chance or coincidence, it’s the causes that we’ve made in our past, or are presently making, that determine how these laws function uniquely in each of our lives from moment to moment, as well in our environment. By facing east, in harmony with the direction that the Earth is turning, and rhythmically chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for a minimum of ten minutes daily, anyone can experience actual proof of its positive effects in their life.

In so doing, we can pierce through even the thickest layers of our karma and activate our Buddha Nature (the enlightened state). We’re then able to summon forth the wisdom needed to challenge, overcome and change our negative circumstances into positive ones. It brings forth the wisdom that can free us from the ignorance and stupidity that is preventing us from accepting and being proud of the person that we truly are, regardless of our race, colour, gender or sexual preference. We are also able to see and understand our circumstances and an environment more clearly, as well as attract and connect with any needed external beneficial forces and situations.

Actual proof soon becomes apparent to anyone who chants the words Nam-myoho-renge-kyo on a regular daily basis. Everything is subject to the law of Cause and Effect, so the strength of the result from chanting depends on dedication, sincerity and determination. To explain it more simply, the difference could be compared to making a sound on a piano, creating a melody, or producing a song and so on.

NB: There are frightening, disturbing sounds and there are tranquil and relaxing sounds. It's the emotional result from any sound that can trigger off a mood or even instantly change one. When chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo each day you are producing a sound vibration that is the password to your true inner-self - this soon becomes apparent when you start reassessing your views on various things, such as your fears and desires etc. The important way to get the best result when chanting is not to see things in a conventional way (difficult to achieve but can be done), rather than reaching out to an external source, you need to reach into your own life and bring your needs and desires to fruition from within, including any help that you may need. Think of it as a seed within you that you are bringing sunshine and water to in order for it to grow, blossom and bring forth fruit or flowers. It’s important to understand that everything that we need in life, all the answers and potential to achieve our dreams, already exist within us.

[alfredorezende-popg]

É uma questão de experimentar e gozar sua percepção

[saynotowindoze]

dude assumes free will and blows right by it like no one would notice. You can make an argument for or against anything if your base assumptions are arbitrary.