Quote:
Originally Posted by gold.n.god
an option is something that you have extra, doesn't have to be used, doesn't have to be able to be used, it's just there.
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i don't know where you got that idea, but an option that can't be opted isn't a legitimate option. again, 'option' is a synonym of 'choice'. at the risk of being pedantic, i'll quote dictionary.com:
option:
Quote:
1. the power or right of choosing.
2. something that may be or is chosen; choice.
3. the act of choosing.
4. an item of equipment or a feature that may be chosen as an addition to or replacement for standard equipment and features: a car with a long list of extra-cost options; a telephoto lens option for a camera.
5. stock option.
6. a privilege acquired, as by the payment of a premium or consideration, of demanding, within a specified time, the carrying out of a transaction upon stipulated terms; the right, as granted in a contract or by an initial payment, of acquiring something in the future: We bought one lot and took a 90-day option on an adjoining one.
7. Football. a play in which a back has a choice of either passing or running with the ball.
–verb (used with object)
8. to acquire or grant an option on: The studio has optioned his latest novel for film adaptation.
9. to provide with optional equipment: The car can be fully optioned at additional cost.
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nowhere there does it suggest anything along the lines of something you can't choose. i'm not quoting that to be a jerk, but, since we're debating the word, you'll have to give me an example of a use of 'option' where there is something for which you cannot opt.
more than that, though, i need to understand what you mean in the first place. even without the discussion of whether or not you can opt or choose or whatever this other action is, i don't understand what other possible actions you're saying exist. are you talking about in a situation where causality fails and, hence, pure randomness exists, such as in the case where you hit a billiard ball and, instead of taking it's predetermined course, it turns into a chicken? i mean, if pure randomness is at play, then i guess there are are limitless possibilities, even if there is no way to choose which possibility is the eventual outcome. is that what you're talking about? if so, are you relying on quantum mechanics for the suggestion that such randomness exists? if that is the case, i am fully prepared to continue on and suggest that determinism is still salvageable, but i need to know where we're at right now.