Can something happen without anything else causing it?

    • MurrayL@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      Not if your chosen reference frame is a hand and a ball, as per the example

      • pebbles@sh.itjust.works
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        18 hours ago

        I mean aren’t you saying: “Something can happen without a cause if we just ignore the cause.”

        I read ops question as about reality, not hypothetical universes that contain a hand that moves a without an arm or brain attached.

        • Derpenheim@lemmy.zip
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          19 hours ago

          I get the confusion, but a reference frame is a very important limitation for calculating what you need. Its not about whether the arm exists behind the hand, but whether its effects are important for the calculation.

          For the sake of the hand pushing the ball, its not. Only the momentum of the hand and the inertia of the ball are important.

          • Maeve@kbin.earth
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            18 hours ago

            I understand very well, and also understand anyone with the capacity will understand the frame of reference doesn’t explain the phenomenon. It’s how we went from four corners to heliocentrism to galaxy, universe, and multiverse.