2002-09-25

Leif Andersson

Henriksbergsvägen 104

136 67 HANINGE

Tel 08/777 45 33

e-post     leif.andersson@haninge.mail.telia.com

Hemsidor   http://go.to/lean1

           http://come.to/lean

 

Cause and effect

================

 

You can not measure any distances on a smooth sea-surface. Even if 

you hold a ruler over the surface the measures you make will be 

meaningless as soon as you remove the ruler. There will be no 

distinguishable points at the end of the distance you measured. 

But if you disturb the surface, e g if you throw a stone at it, 

you will get a distinguishable point. And the disturbance will 

spread and cause new disturbances. You will have waves and you 

can measure the distance between the waves and you can count the 

number of waves. You have created a space of measures.

 

Creation was a "stone" thrown in the smooth ether. The disturbance 

spread and created a world where we can measure distances (space) 

and events (time).

 

In this world events occur at random, but not completely at random. 

For some reason event B might increase the possibility for event A. 

If the front of a car moves the probability is high that the rear 

will move too.

 

Why there is such a connection between cause and effect is the 

greatest question of all. But obviously there is.

 

Suppose that we want event A to occur but we can not make it happen 

directly. Then we might find an event B that can be the cause of A. 

So if we can make B happen then B will cause A. We control our world 

through the cause of the cause of...the cause of the effects we want.

 

An event that has a cause is predictable. If the cause happens we can 

predict that the event will occur. And we can use the event as a cause 

of another event. Hence predictable events are useful.

 

There are also unpredictable events. We call them noise. We can not use 

these events since we do not know if they will occur (this is not an 

absolute truth but that is another subject).

 

When we talk about energy we talk about predictable and useful events.

 

The concept of predictability plays an important role in our effort to 

control nature. It has also an important role in economics. The reason 

why economies based on egoism might work while economies based on 

altruism will not is that the predictability of egoism is higher than 

the predictability of altruism.

 

In nature we can use the predictable fall of one object to raise another 

object. In economics we can use predictable egoism to create altruism and 

a working economy based on egoism can be more altruistic than a non-working 

economy based on altruism.