A Question of Possibility

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Prince_James

Plutarch (Mickey's Dog)
Registered Senior Member
When we say something is possible, where does this possibility exist?

Is it in, for lack of a better term, a Possibility Heaven? Wherein resides all possibilities?

Or does it exist as a "possibility seed" within the objects which are now existent?
 
Prince_James said:
When we say something is possible, where does this possibility exist?

Is it in, for lack of a better term, a Possibility Heaven? Wherein resides all possibilities?

Or does it exist as a "possibility seed" within the objects which are now existent?
Click to expand...

Possibility doesn't exist its just a concept...in reality there are no statistical chances...
 
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It's all in your mind - or that of the person who believes that a particular thing is possible.
 
Prince_James said:
When we say something is possible, where does this possibility exist?
Is it in, for lack of a better term, a Possibility Heaven? Wherein resides all possibilities?
Or does it exist as a "possibility seed" within the objects which are now existent?
Click to expand...

Possibility only exists in the mind of the person who conceives of it.

A tree has always been just a tree ...until someone cut a bunch of 'em down to stack them up to make the walls of a house. A log was always just a log until someone thought of splitting them in half so as to make two "logs" from one log.

No, possibility is a mental concept, a mental image, ...and obviously one that's a "first time" concept or image.

However, I like that "Possibility Heaven" answer ...hmmmm? :D

I have this image of a place in the universe, like a giant library, wehre all of the possibilities are stored according to some interesting criteria. Hmm?

Baron Max
 
Killjoy, Baron Max:

It's all in your mind - or that of the person who believes that a particular thing is possible.
Click to expand...

Possibility only exists in the mind of the person who conceives of it.
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Whereas it is certainly true that we conceive of possibility mentally, it would seem that the notion of "what is possible" goes back to the object.

For instance, Baron Max, you bring up the log in the tree. Clearly, the tree had something that allowed for said log to be harvested from it, yes? If it didn't, such would not be possible, yes?

We should also speak of -realized- possibilities. For instance, it is not true that simply because we can broadly envision a pink unicorn popping out of a tree that it is possible that such could happen. Rather, the tree would refute this notion. As it is really the -tree- that is refuting this, then can't we say that possibilities inhere less in the mind, and more in the objects themselves?
 
Baron Max:

However, I like that "Possibility Heaven" answer ...hmmmm?

I have this image of a place in the universe, like a giant library, where all of the possibilities are stored according to some interesting criteria. Hmm?
Click to expand...

An excellent picture of it, I imagine.
 
IceAgeCivilizations:

Over millions of generations in a framework of natural selection: Evidently, yes.
 
IceAgeCivilizations:

There is mountains of evidence, as given by the scientific community for 120 years.

However, let's not debate evolution v. creation here. This thread is not about stuff of that nature. If you want to go elsewhere, I suppose we can.
 
There must be limits on the possible, because all things are obviously not possible at once. Examples of paradox reveal this irrefutably. It is not possible for a single geometric shape to be both a circle and a square at the same time.

So, since all things are not possible, possibility must have restrictions inherent in any system. Since systems can be quite complex, it is impossible to create a universal notion of "possibility". We have to be clear about the system we are describing, and note that those possibilities only apply to that system.

That's why I don't think possibility can even be thought of as a seed within an object. It depends on the forces in play as well. The entire system matters. How much gravity is present? What is the atmospheric makeup? The potential for wood to burn is dependent on Oxygen, so there is obviously an interplay between fuel and combustible that isn't present in either one singularly.
 
Prince_James said:
Killjoy, Baron Max:





Whereas it is certainly true that we conceive of possibility mentally, it would seem that the notion of "what is possible" goes back to the object.

For instance, Baron Max, you bring up the log in the tree. Clearly, the tree had something that allowed for said log to be harvested from it, yes? If it didn't, such would not be possible, yes?

We should also speak of -realized- possibilities. For instance, it is not true that simply because we can broadly envision a pink unicorn popping out of a tree that it is possible that such could happen. Rather, the tree would refute this notion. As it is really the -tree- that is refuting this, then can't we say that possibilities inhere less in the mind, and more in the objects themselves?
Click to expand...

I think the possibility remains in the mind. A matter of perception.

True, a given object has the potential to serve many purposes. To be transformed, re-shaped, or rendered into something else. Also that the potential is limited to what the laws of nature/physics/etc. allow.

Still, without a "conceptualizer" - somebody with a bright idea - I don't think these possibilities technically exist. A potential may remain, but the possibility is the idea that the object can serve some other purpose or function.
 
Killjoy:

Yet if these possibilities don't exist, how can they manifest when no one is around to wonder whether this could do that, or this could do this?
 
Swivel:

So you think that one cannot reduce possibility to any one object, but must consider all the objects it could possibly relate to for the possibility? So it is not enough that merely "wood can burn", but "wood also requires some oxygen to burn" and the potential to burn would be between them?
 
Prince_James said:
Killjoy:

Yet if these possibilities don't exist, how can they manifest when no one is around to wonder whether this could do that, or this could do this?
Click to expand...

In the case of, say, an organism which evolves into another, I have to admit it seems the possibility is inherent in the creature itself - unless of course this is described by potential.

I feel a bit like I'm playing at semantics...
Possibility
Potential
Are they the same thing ?

Would an inanimate object have potential, which can only be rendered into possibility by some mind conceiving of that "hitherto unknown" aspect, while a living thing "possesses" possibility by virtue of the fact that it can become something else on its own by evolving or adapting ?

The case of trees, for example...
Plants can evolve, and hence would seem to have certain inherent possibilities, yet this capacity does not mean that they can become lumber, or the hull of a boat, which requires that someone conceive of those possibilities.
 
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