From: gts (gts@optexinc.com)
Date: Thu Sep 05 2002 - 00:46:41 MDT
Lee Corbin wrote:
> gts writes
>
>> You're a funny guy and I appreciate your use of language to
>> that end. :) I do not however appreciate it when it distorts
>> my actual words.
>
> Sorry. Just getting a laugh there in the introductory
> paragraph of my post as I started a new thread.
No need to apologize. I really do think you're a funny guy. I didn't
mean for my second sentence above to put a damper on my meaning. :)
I like and envy your skill with the English language. My forte is in the
area of reflection and abstraction rather than verbal expression. I
often feel limited and frustrated by my inability to communicate my
thoughts cogently and accurately.
> Anyway, to be clear, I don't think it correct to say
> that human heart-beats have a *motivation*, and downright
> silly (not important) to wonder if every molecular motion does.
I would not be so quick to dismiss the idea that human heart-beats have
no motivation. More accurately, I would not be so quick to dismiss the
idea that the human nervous system has no motivation to send electrical
impulses to the heart to trigger its beat. The autonomic nervous system
responsible for controlling the heart is after all under the control of
the brain. If you shoot a man in the head then his heart will stop
beating.
On the other hand I agree we are getting into questionable territory
here. For example I feel at least somewhat reluctant about positing any
kind "motivation" for the remarkable and almost miraculous actions of
the human immune system in response to invasion by foreign proteins.
It would be best, I think, if we agreed to preclude internal biological
processes from the definition of "human behavior." This idea of
motivations for internal biological processes is an evil demon that you
brought into our house; I hope we can agree on the necessity of its
exorcism. :-)
I'll try to get to the rest of your message tomorrow. Time for bed.
-gts
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