Richard,

The problem with the word supernatural is that things either behave in a natural way, or they don't behave at all. The term natural has many meanings, but it is typically viewed as a principle that conserves action/energy/time/space/etc in a minimalist manner that in the end provides a good explanation to our human sense of rationality. For example, the principle of least action is a principle of naturalism. So are the conservation laws of energy, principle of least time, random walks, random mutations, genetic drift, etc. They all have in common a certain minimalist behavior that conserves something important to the system in a manner that makes for a good human explanation.

So, when someone says that something behaves supernaturally, the way that I interpret that is that it behaves in a manner which contradicts our sense of a good explanation in terms of this minimalistic/conservationist approach to the universe.

The use of the term 'nomological' has none of these liabilities. Nomological systems maintain a minimalistic account. Even suggesting that God follows certain minimalist tendencies (e.g., a la Maupertuis) falls under this nomological concept of God versus the ancient view of God as acting unpredictably and violently for no rational reason. I think of that as a real supernatural cause.

• How about superconductor - yanniru - August 7, 2003 - 13:31 UTC
  • Super duper - harvey1 - August 7, 2003 - 15:07 UTC
    • Natural to me refers to nature - yanniru - August 7, 2003 - 16:52 UTC
      • Nature and natural - harvey1 - August 7, 2003 - 19:44 UTC
        • Correction - harvey1 - August 7, 2003 - 19:47 UTC
          • Let's suppose - yanniru - August 8, 2003 - 01:01 UTC
            • Very intricate question - harvey1 - August 8, 2003 - 02:53 UTC
              • You did not accept the premise - yanniru - August 8, 2003 - 11:53 UTC
                • Well... - harvey1 - August 8, 2003 - 14:29 UTC
                  • One important correction - harvey1 - August 8, 2003 - 14:43 UTC
                    • You certainly are consistent - yanniru - August 8, 2003 - 14:57 UTC
                      • I was just getting warmed up - harvey1 - August 8, 2003 - 15:02 UTC
                        • You can discuss this stuff with ......! - quiet - August 8, 2003 - 20:41 UTC
                          • .anonymous strangers who can delete your posts and "shun" you ! - quiet - August 9, 2003 - 21:21 UTC
                    • One additional correction - harvey1 - August 8, 2003 - 14:59 UTC
                    • I enjoyed your discussion. - duordi - August 9, 2003 - 19:40 UTC