psyreporter wrote: ↑June 24th, 2022, 11:02 am
3017Metaphysician wrote: ↑June 23rd, 2022, 3:44 pmGenerally speaking, cause and effect means that things happen because something prompted them to happen. A cause is why something happens. In a cause and effect relationship, one or more things happen as a result of something else. A cause is a catalyst, a motive, or an action that brings about a reaction—or reactions. A cause instigates an effect. An effect is a condition, occurrence, or result generated by one or more causes. Effects are outcomes.
Before we get to science/physics, so far, do we have agreement?
What would be the ground for any certainty in what you have described? The assertion is based on the idea that facts have a certain qualitative nature that makes them different from propositional truths which is a questionable idea.
There is evidence that consciousness can exert a physical effect backwards in time - on physical 'reality' in the past. How would that relate to causality when effects as they had 'appear' to be, prove to have been (able to been) otherwise?
Scientists introduce new cosmic connectivity: 
Quantum pigeonhole paradox
"With the new kind of quantum linkages which we have introduced, the particles don't have to interact in the past. In fact, they have no idea that the other particle even existed," said Jeff Tollaksen, Director of the Institute for Quantum Studies at Chapman University.
Aharonov found that Nature gains something very beautiful and exciting with this indeterminism: the present is not only affected by the past but it is also affected by the future. That is, the future (also known as post-selection) can come back to the present (like in the movie "Back to the Future").
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 132526.htm
PR!
Thank you for the question. The ground would be the cognitive need for curiosity, or the metaphysical Will to be. A fixed, intrinsic or innate need, a priori. Of course, the qualitative features of self-consciousness allows for things like curiosity as well as things like intuition to manifest. And it does so through the cognitive process of the intellect. Meaning, in this context, consider the logic of causation as a means to an end. In pure reason or logic,
if the end goal is to have some level of "certainty", it is not those exclusive 'qualitive' features that will get us there. The complimentary feature to 'quality' then, would be of 'quantity'. As an example, the infamous synthetic a priori cosmological argument would rear its metaphorical head:
Whatever begins to exist has a cause of its existence.
The universe began to exist.
Therefore, the universe has a cause of its existence.
In consciousness, from a physical/meta-physical vantage point, we have both quantity and quality (of the foregoing cognitive process) working for us, respectively. The quantity is the object, the quality is the subject. The trick is to transcend both the subject-object dichotomy to effect some level of "certainty". Kind of like the ToE where QM and relativity can be integrated and resolved (?).
With respect to backward causation, yes, I'm familiar with that phenomenon. At it's core, it does not only imply a logically structured determined universe of cause and effect and its related laws, but more specifically an indetermined one suggesting through analogy that both free-will and determinism can co-exist (compatibilism). Of course, there is some debate over such an inference... .
Nonetheless, you raise a very intriguing possibility. One way to envision this, could be the ability to step outside the block universe model of spacetime... . Is the quantum pigeon hole reminiscent of the Hawking informational paradox?
Quantum pigeonhole paradox
I know I should be more mature about it... 