4 ms·

Well, you are choosing a reason. That doesn't make it the reason. Sure you can say Zebras have black and white stripes because their genes makes them express t

Well, you are choosing a reason. That doesn't make it the reason. Sure you can say Zebras have black and white stripes because their genes makes them express them in a certain way. However I could say they have stripes because it helps them shoo away flies. Someone else could say they have stripes because it makes them look pretty. Another person yet could say they only seem to have stripes because we can see those colors, but some other animals can't see them, so to us they have stripes. And then anyone could keep coming up with alternative answers. Even worse, you could ask why the mechanism that makes the Zebras have stripes works that way? And then why is that so. And then there's technically no end to it (just talk to any little kid). We just accept the first seemingly reasonable answer to a why question, and we've been trained it's rude or annoying to keep asking. But there's really no definitive answer, except whichever one you choose to accept.

PeterisP 8y ago
The choice of reason isn't arbitrary. You could say that they have stripes because it helps them shoo away flies and someone else could say they have stripes because it makes them look pretty - but one (or both) of these answers would be wrong. The hypothesis can be falsified. We could test whether zebras do find stripes pretty in other zebras - perhaps it's not the best way to spend your time and resources, but it can be done. We can measure whether stripes discourage flies from landing, and we can measure what impact (if any) less flies has on health of zebras and their likelihood to survive until breeding. It's tricky, but it's generally possible. There's some mechanism that makes stripes beneficial. Or perhaps there are multiple valid mechanisms - but in that case, one contributes (for example) 70% and the other 30%, and that can (with enough effort) be evaluated, and those mechanisms separated from the other alternative answers that are just guesses. There are definitive answers. Perhaps they're hard to find out, perhaps they're hard to verify, perhaps for some aspects we'll not find out these definitive answers, but they certainly are there. You may reasonably choose that a particular answer isn't important enough to justify the resources needed to obtain that answer (and zebra stripes may well be a decent example for that), but giving in to the concept "there's really no definitive answer, except whichever one you choose to accept" is just shameful wilful ignorance. Reality is what exists no matter if you choose to accept it or not.
- ta1234567890 8y ago
  > Reality is what exists no matter if you choose to accept it or not Is it? How do you know? You can't prove it. Reality to you is what you experience and you can never know what anyone else is experiencing. Reality is not objective, it depends on an observer. In fact if there are no observers, then there's no way to prove reality exists (and the concept wouldn't even make sense). Even if there was an objective reality that was the same for all, "a reason" is a made up human concept, it is not a fundamental thing of nature/reality. You are even trying to define what a reason is in your comment. So I would say, in this case, you calling other people willfully ignorant is just the way you deal with your reality to accept it and reject what the other person is trying to convey.

PeterisP 8y ago

The choice of reason isn't arbitrary. You could say that they have stripes because it helps them shoo away flies and someone else could say they have stripes because it makes them look pretty - but one (or both) of these answers would be wrong. The hypothesis can be falsified. We could test whether zebras do find stripes pretty in other zebras - perhaps it's not the best way to spend your time and resources, but it can be done. We can measure whether stripes discourage flies from landing, and we can measure what impact (if any) less flies has on health of zebras and their likelihood to survive until breeding. It's tricky, but it's generally possible. There's some mechanism that makes stripes beneficial. Or perhaps there are multiple valid mechanisms - but in that case, one contributes (for example) 70% and the other 30%, and that can (with enough effort) be evaluated, and those mechanisms separated from the other alternative answers that are just guesses. There are definitive answers. Perhaps they're hard to find out, perhaps they're hard to verify, perhaps for some aspects we'll not find out these definitive answers, but they certainly are there. You may reasonably choose that a particular answer isn't important enough to justify the resources needed to obtain that answer (and zebra stripes may well be a decent example for that), but giving in to the concept "there's really no definitive answer, except whichever one you choose to accept" is just shameful wilful ignorance. Reality is what exists no matter if you choose to accept it or not.

ta1234567890 8y ago
> Reality is what exists no matter if you choose to accept it or not Is it? How do you know? You can't prove it. Reality to you is what you experience and you can never know what anyone else is experiencing. Reality is not objective, it depends on an observer. In fact if there are no observers, then there's no way to prove reality exists (and the concept wouldn't even make sense). Even if there was an objective reality that was the same for all, "a reason" is a made up human concept, it is not a fundamental thing of nature/reality. You are even trying to define what a reason is in your comment. So I would say, in this case, you calling other people willfully ignorant is just the way you deal with your reality to accept it and reject what the other person is trying to convey.