[quote]u associate one's will with enacting change..perhaps its inevitable change occurs[/quote] Well, yes. The natural world is clear evidence of that. [quote]but i associate the will with the mind/intellect, for the purpose of making judgements.[/quote] I wouldn't say judgements are 'made'. It's more a case of realised: you understand a situation and know which path to take. There's no decision, it's a matter of good thing vs. bad thing. [quote]without a will or push, our minds would lack direction[/quote] Agreed. But will isn't voluntary. Ironically. It's controlled by genetics and environment. [quote][quote]But feeling is simply registration of what's good and bad. And a machine can do that. So what makes our registration transcendent?[/quote] I would hesitate in attributing machine's with feelings and the ability to distinguish between right from wrong.[/quote] Well, see what I said in that quote box. Feeling [i]is[/i] our body's way of telling us what's good and what's bad. A machine can have the exact same apparatus. As for 'right and wrong', I don't believe in objective morality, short of overriding someone else's volition. [quote]What do u mean by registration being transcendent?[/quote] It's hard to describe: all I have are words on a screen. Basically, what - for example - makes us taste chocolate the way it is? What makes us feel good about a film, or music, or sex? Chemicals, yes. But could those sensations be replicated for an AI? I'm no biologist, so I couldn't say. [quote][quote]What is the meaning of life, the purpose for which we live?[/quote] I'd imagine that question must be asked thru a particular lens that each individual determines for him/herself at the time - for we change in time.[/quote] True enough. But I think I can safely say that we desire happiness, generally speaking. [quote][quote]...reality has no meaning. It has no purpose.[/quote] u may be called to study metaphysics..and not the modern trash (dudes like Nietzche r bold, however) but real metaphysics..Aristotle is always a popular start, or pre-Socratics..or look into some journals.[/quote] I don't believe in metaphysics. As I told some friends earlier in group chat, everything boils down to the motion of subatomic particles, with probably a few exceptions. [quote][quote]...but don't chalk it up to 'design' when bad things happen as well as good things. Don't look for a pattern that doesn't exist.[/quote] Not chalking it up to design probably goes hand-in-hand with free will[/quote] I don't believe in free will, so no. Lack of design doesn't instantly equate to total freedom. The universe is structured by the laws of physics, those are what dictate our lives. But those laws have no design. They simply exist. [quote]but regarding patterns, how about distinguishing between patterns, or causes? some patterns r a matter of realistic consequences.[/quote] Like I said in the OP, humanity needs to learn where to draw the line. Obviously there are innumerable natural processes that dictate our lives and the world. But seeking some forward-thinking purpose in any of them is pointless.