F'ing insurance industry

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:_2jkc.1021$Ik.124282@attbi_s53...
Are you saying that an all-powerful God is not able to
create man with free will?

A perfectly valid Philosphy 101 conundrum. Rephrasing of the classic "can
an omnipotent being create a mountain he cannot move?"

On the other hand, Jay probably would've flunked the class...

I'm saying it would illogical for Him to do so.

Logic has nothing to do with omnipotence. An omnipotent being certainly can
act illogically, should he choose.

Omnipotence implies that He knows everything -- including the next choice
you are about to make.

Someone else knowing what you're going to do does not mean you have no free
will. It simply means he knows what you're going to do. As long as you are
still capable of making the decision one way or the other, you have free
will.

Sounds like you're confusing the omnipotence of a single being with a
universe that is completely deterministic.

Which brings me to the whole point of this post: What kind of aircraft
would an omnipotent being fly? Would it matter if he was acting logically
or not? Does the fact that he knows where you're going to fly to next mean
you have no free will?

Pete

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...
I am nearly certain I've seen at least one policy that DID actually
define
"Act Of God".

You probably have. The logical conclusion from Mr. Denton's information is
that there
exists a legal definition somewhere of what constitutes an "Act of God",
so it would
not be out of the question for some companies to include that in the
policies.

I'll go one further, and suggest that the definition may actually vary from
policy to policy, for those that bother to define the term. A definition in
the legal contract would supersede any default definition provided for in
the law.

Pete

Someone else knowing what you're going to do does not mean you have no free
will. It simply means he knows what you're going to do. As long as you are
still capable of making the decision one way or the other, you have free
will.


Nope.

If by "free will" we mean that one can make their own decisions and act on
them, and by "determinsim" we mean that every aspect of the future is known or
knowable (predetermined), then in a deterministic universe, one can have the
illusion of "free will" but the will is not really free. That someone else
"knows" implies that it is knowable, and thus that it is determined.

The whole thing hinges on what we mean by "you"... in the sense that "you" make
a decision. Once you examine the synapses and such, the idea of the "you"
making the decision becomes fuzzy to the point of senselessness. It's not like
there's some mystical "thing" that makes the decision - the decision is the
result of lots and lots of "things" coming together. We use the shorthand
"you" to mean this, and therein lies the conundrum.

Jose

--
(for Email, make the obvious changes in my address)

Nope.

If by "free will" we mean that one can make their own decisions and act on
them, and by "determinsim" we mean that every aspect of the future is
known or
knowable (predetermined), then in a deterministic universe, one can have
the
illusion of "free will" but the will is not really free. That someone
else
"knows" implies that it is knowable, and thus that it is determined

Precisely. Thanks, Jose.

(BTW: I *knew* you were going to post that... :-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Why do you think that your employers insurance policy should cover your
high-risk activities?

Every risk that is covered has some theoretical cost and the line has to be
drawn somewhere. The cheapest policies will always exclude high risk
activities like scuba, high altitude mountaineering and private flying.

Mike
MU-2

"gatt" wrote in message
...

My employer chose perhaps the most expensive and most useless insurance
policy they could, and today I called up Allegis Benefits and chewed them
up. Check this out:

"What is not covered under all plans:
- Suicide or attempted suicide while sane or insane
- Acts of war (declared or undeclared)
- Your commission of a felony
- Your operating, riding in, or descending from any ay aircraft other than
while a fare-paying passenger on a licensed, commercial, non-military
aircraft..."

So flying a plane puts me in company with suicides and criminals. She
thought that was funny. Just to clarify, I asked her: If I walk into a
prop
or go streaking across the runway and get clobbered by a landing jet, I am
not "operating, riding in or descending" and so I am covered. "Strictly
speaking, yes," she replied.

I finished the call by telling her that insurance industry employees will
never be welcome in my cockpit. That should be a standing code among GA
pilots: If an insurance employee wants to fly, he or she can take a jet
or
leap from a building. There's no room in general aviation for people who
liken pilots to felons and the insane.

-c

Peter Gottlieb wrote:

Oh, legal stuff is a blast. Just follow the SCO story (www.groklaw.net) for
a while to see some "fun" things that can happen.

Hehehe... I guess I'm just gonna have to jump on that bandwagon and read
up - I've noticed lately that the clamour over the SCO suit has somewhat
declined in recent weeks over in the Linux newsgroups... must not be too
many new lawsuits going on.

SCO get bought by anyone yet? Go bankrupt yet?
--
--x _x | CJ Chitwood
| | |_|___ _ _ ____x | Unregistered Linux User # 18,000,002
| |_| | , | | |\ \/ | Go ahead. Show me where the code is.
|____|_|_|_|___|/\_\ | Sink the ship to reply by e-mail

"Teacherjh" wrote in message
...
Nope.

If by "free will" we mean that one can make their own decisions and act on
them, and by "determinsim" we mean that every aspect of the future is
known or
knowable (predetermined), then in a deterministic universe, one can have
the
illusion of "free will" but the will is not really free. That someone
else
"knows" implies that it is knowable, and thus that it is determined.

Nope. You presume that the knowing comes about through some form of
determinism. But an omnipotent being is not so limited. An omnipotent
being would just as easily know in advance of non-deterministic events and
deterministic events.

I refer you back to the immoveable mountain paradox.

I also chastise you for not including at least some semblance of on-topic
content. I won't bother in this post do the same, since it apparently goes
unappreciated.

Pete

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:qbkkc.1497$I%1.174358@attbi_s51...
(BTW: I *knew* you were going to post that... :-)

Omnipotence will get you everywhere.

"gatt" wrote in message


My employer chose perhaps the most expensive and most useless insurance
policy they could......

- Your operating, riding in, or descending from any ay aircraft other than
while a fare-paying passenger on a licensed, commercial, non-military
aircraft..."

Not unusual.


So flying a plane puts me in company with suicides and criminals.

Only to the extent that your activity constitutes a relatively high risk in
the context of the population as a whole. The list you posted contains high
risks or risks the insuror can't mitigate.



I finished the call by telling her that insurance industry employees will
never be welcome in my cockpit.

Oooo. I'll bet that hurt!


There's no room in general aviation for people who
liken pilots to felons and the insane.

Or, one might muse, for folks who fly off the handle over minor, usual, and
predictable inconveniences.

"Teacherjh" wrote in message

I'd like to see the fallout should they redefine it as "Act Of Allah"

In the world of Islam, *everything* is an "Act of Allah"