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Hi John M.
One thing to always keep in mind is that "system-hood" is, itself,
a relational property. It has to do with the relation of the observer to "the
system" (meaning"that which is being observed"). This is one of the reasons
why science can never be a truly "objective" pursuit-- I would argue that there
is no such thing as objectivity in science. By its very nature,
"science" is a human mental creation and exercise. However, science is what
humanity has developed as a way to aid in learning about ourselves and our
world/universe (because we do see both from an innately egocentric perspective).
So all of these descriptions are being made from within the context of
SCIENCE.
My father's work was not philosophy, much as he was accused of
that, mostly be experimentalists who considered "theory" to be synonymous with
"speculation". So you say that these boundaries of system are artificial?
Yeah, they are. All human perception is a mental artifact, in some sense. And
your point is??? "Reduction" is not a dirty word, unless it's the only word
allowed or it's misapplied to situations where it's inappropriate. If the former
is true, it guarantees the latter, doesn't it.
What "RR" was saying was that science can do far better than it has
been doing, in how it approaches learning about various aspects of our
universe.
So, having reiterated that, let's look at the issue of the system
we call "car".... In order for a car to be a car, what we have to look at is the
organization that makes it a car. Not the organization of the atoms or the
molecules or the next larger category of components.... the organization of an
atom is not what makes a car a car. Similarly, we needn't bother going into ever
larger systems, looking at the organization of traffic or of rush hour traffic
jams, etc.... that's not the "car" system, either. The main POINT: it is a
significant fact that the way some system is organized contributes a causal
impact on its behaviors/capabilities. In a car, that organization is simple:
pretty much the sum of its parts.
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