I assume that there is some line you would draw, be it at individual neurons, or cellular structures, or molecules, or individual atoms, beyond which you would say, "these types of things don't make choices." If so, how would you reply to the question: in what sense can a system built out of components that don't make choices be said to make choices?
[grin] Cyan, I actually do believe that even subatomic particles, in some limited sense, can be said to make choices. I do agree with you that choice can't arise out of choiceless components.
If you're curious about what it might mean for an electron to make a choice, and you have a high tolerance for whimsy, I recommend the book Reenchantment without Supernaturalism. The philosophy isn't very rigorous, and it's rather out of date, but it's the only one I know of that (a) takes physics seriously, (b) takes logic seriously, and (c) accounts for my intuitio...
A monthly thread for posting rationality-related quotes you've seen recently (or had stored in your quotesfile for ages).
ETA: It would seem that rationality quotes are no longer desired. After several days this thread stands voted into the negatives. Wolud whoever chose to to downvote this below 0 would care to express their disapproval of the regular quotes tradition more explicitly? Or perhaps they may like to browse around for some alternative posts that they could downvote instead of this one? Or, since we're in the business of quotation, they could "come on if they think they're hard enough!"