M
May 15 2024
Causality
#causality
#cause and effect
#time
#randomness
#determinism
Requirements to know:
Causality or Cause and Effect
We have previously discussed the concept of cause and affect in the context of the universe.
In this post, we will discuss the concept of causality in more detail.
As we said, causality can happen in two ways:
- A cause can lead to an effect
- An effect can lead to a cause
- It works as a recursive loop, where the effect of the cause becomes the cause of the effect and it goes to infinity.
We learned that things happen as complex loops of cause and affect in a chaotic system and things happen because of necessity.
Let's talk about chaos theory and butterfly effect phenomena
The butterfly effect is a concept that says that a small change in one place can have a big effect in another place!
The butterfly effect was discovered by Edward Lorenz, a meteorologist, and mathematician, in the 1960s.
He discovered that a small change in the initial conditions of a system can lead to a big change in the final outcome of the system while he was working on a numerical input base weather forecasting model.
How it works?
He found that small changes in the initial conditions of a weather simulation, such as rounding off a number from 0.506127 to 0.506, could lead to vastly different outcomes in the forecast. This sensitivity to initial conditions means that minor variations can exponentially amplify, making precise long-term weather prediction impossible.
This is known as the butterfly effect. He wrote a paper called "Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow" in 1963, where he introduced the concept of chaos theory and the butterfly effect.
The initial condition is so sensitive that a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can cause a tornado in Texas! Weather is a form of deterministic chaotic system, which means that it is predictable in the short term but not in the long term.
Just like how if you take another path to work for a day, it might lead to a different outcome in your day or life. You see it happening everyday without noticing it.
Causality fundamentals
We can see how a small change in input of a chaotic complex system can lead to a huge change in the output. The very same way, a small change in any system can lead to a huge change in the output. Our universe is a complex system, and a small change in the initial conditions of the universe can lead to a huge change in the final outcome of the universe. In our everyday life, we can see how a small change in our actions can lead to be a cause that pushes a new set of dominoes that we can't predict the outcome of it.
1P28: Every individual thing, or everything which is finite and has a conditioned existence, cannot exist or be conditioned to act, unless it be conditioned for existence and action by a cause other than itself, which also is finite, and has a conditioned existence; and likewise this cause cannot in its turn exist, or be conditioned to act, unless it be conditioned for existence and action by another cause, which also is finite, and has a conditioned existence, and so on to infinity.
- Finite thing: Something that is not self caused, it caused by external causes. infinite thing = substance = matter.
- Conditioned existence: Something that is not self existent, it exists because of external causes, like the motion of a domino, and the finite thing that pushed it.
He says that everything that is finite and has a conditioned existence cannot exist or act unless it is conditioned by a cause other than itself, which is also finite and has a conditioned existence. And this cause cannot exist or act unless it is conditioned by another cause, and so on to infinity.
In the context of dominos, the domino cannot fall unless it is pushed by another domino, and that domino cannot fall unless it is pushed by another domino, and so on to infinity.
Many people might think, so now that things exactly happen in the way they do, does these lines of cause and affect taking us to a specific goal or destination? no, it just goes to infinity and there is no meaning in it.
Relationships between causes and effects and causality levels in perfect time
Many to many - Network causality
Multiple causes can lead to multiple effects.
- Cause: Many dominoes are pushed, and they all heat each other at the same time
- Effects: All the dominoes connected to each other affect each other
- The causes are definite and the effects are necessary, all the dominoes have no choice but to fall.
Many to 1 - diverging causality
Multiple causes can lead to a single effect.
- Cause: Many dominoes are pushed, and they all heat each other at the same time
- Effects: All the dominoes connected to each other affect each other
- The causes are definite and the effects are necessary, all the dominoes have no choice but to fall.
1 to many causality - branching causality
A single cause can lead to multiple effects.
- Cause: pushing a domino which heats multiple dominoes
- Effects: The domino that was pushed falls and all the other dominoes fall
- The cause is definite and the effects are necessary, all the dominoes have no choice but to fall.
1 to 1 causality - linear causality
A single cause can lead to a single effect.
- Cause: One domino is pushed
- Effect: It hits the next domino and falls
- The cause is definite and the effect is necessary, the next domino has no choice but to fall.
Our world works by the Network causality, where billions of causes lead to billions of effects, and billions of effects lead to billions of causes, and so on to infinity. In between of this chaos, there are diverging, branching, and linear causality that happens under the network causality.
Between any cause and affect, are infinite leaner causality in between, which lead to limited causality in higher levels. In a diverging causality:
- The cause is pushing multiple dominos
- The effect is last domino falling when multiple dominos pushed it at the same time
In between:
- multiple dominos are pushed
- multiple lines of dominos follow the necessity of falling
- And all lead to the 1 domino falling
In a linear causality:
- The cause is pushing one domino
- The effect is the next domino falling
In between:
- Gravity is pulling the domino at every moment
- At each moment the state of domino is changing
- At each moment the domino is moving
- At each moment there is a cause that continues the effect
- What we see at the end, is a domino hitting the other one, but, because there are infinite moments between the cause and effect, there are infinite causes that lead to the effect.
Consider moving your hand to grab a cup of water, the cause is you moving your hand, and the effect is you grabbing the cup of water. But underlying, it's your hand muscles contracting, and the nerves sending signals to the brain, and the brain sending signals to the muscles, and so on.
Consider Columbus discovering America, the cause is Columbus sailing to America, and the effect is Columbus discovering America. But underlying, it's the decision of Columbus to sail to America, and the decision of the king to fund the voyage, and the decision of the sailors to join the voyage, and so on. Now can you say what are the higher levels of discovering America? So cause and affect are not only the reason, but also the underlying reasons that lead to the final effect.
Because time is infinity perfect, the causes and affect between a cause and effect are infinite, they happen at each moment between a cause and the effect of it. For now consider moment as the smallest unit of time, but briefly what I mean here:
Because there are infinite moments in a second, time is infinity perfect. I will talk more about this [perfect time] and causality later on, the concept of [infinite perfection] deserves to have its own post.
What makes cause and affect to happen in the way they do?
Simple answer: Nature and the laws of nature. These are the laws that cannot be broken, they are the laws that make the universe work the way it does. There are no cause and effect that happen outside the laws of nature, as long as it's happening in the nature.
Scale is an example of how effect every time follows cause in such a predictable way, that if we don't know how it works, we would assume anything can happen
What will happen if we adjust it with 10kg on the left side? and nothing on the right side?
The scale will tilt to the left side, because the left side is heavier than the right side. We know that as the law of gravity, it happens every time we put something on the scale.
And now what happens if we adjust it with 10kg on the left side and 10.01kg on the right side?
If your not familiar with the physics laws, you might think that the scale might be balanced, or maybe even tile to left a little bit, but in reality, the scale will tilt to the right side every time, because the right side is heavier than the left side, even though the difference is only 0.01kg.
The very same goes for our day to day life, things happen only in one way, because it happened always exactly as it should, and it will happen exactly as it should in the future.
We have previously talked about the batter fly effect, and how small changes like 0.01kg can lead to a different affect. Now consider this sensitivity in the rest of the cause and affect in the nature and our own life.
1P18: God is the indwelling and not the transient cause of all things.
God is the cause of all things, and he is not a transient cause, he is the indwelling cause of all things. You can think of God/nature as the execution environment of the universe.
Conclusion of causality and determinism
Let's say you want to change any event in the history. You need to change one of the causes that made effect to happen. Each of those causes has its own causes, and each of those causes has its own causes, and so on to the beginning of time. This chain goes back to the Big Bang, the initial condition of the universe. So, if you wish to change any event in the world, you need to change big bang! How to change big bang? with manipulating the initial conditions of the universe, which are the laws of nature. So as a result, you can't change anything in the world, because you can't change the laws of nature. Anything that happens, happens because of the necessary, it's necessary for everything to happen the way it does and no other way.
What about me? I can make choices, I can change things!
You might think that you could simply just not to read this post!
Because you are part of the universe, and you are bound by the laws of nature, like everything else, and we know that as long as there is cause and effect, it will happen exactly as it should and execute by the natural laws of nature.
You see, the event that made you read this post was the effect of causes that pushed you to read, and for me to write it. Both are ncessesery as they have causes which followed by causes before them.
You want to know how and how mind works? go to life/mind
