Disproving Odin - An Experiment in arguing with a theist with Theist logic

[polymath257]

And that was incorrect. The reason that the ball breaks the glass is that the forces induced on the glass from the motion of the ball are sufficient to overcome the forces between the atoms in the glass itself. That is all because of the *physical laws* applicable to this situation. In particular here, it is the electromagnetic repulsion between the electrons of the ball and those of the glass as compared to the attraction between the atoms in the ball and between atoms of the glass that is relevant for the glass breaking.

Without physical laws, the 'logic' would give absolutely no information about this interaction. That is the only 'logically prior' here. The causality is *because* of the physical laws.

And the interaction does, in fact, happen through a period of time. In particular, the reaction of the glass to the ball takes time, it is NOT a simultaneous thing.

I would agree, that there are a series of things which occur in the instance of a ball breaking a window.

Would you agree, that the "physical laws" are just descriptive and do not have a causal abilitiy?  The physical laws, give us a way to describe, understand, and model what happens as the force of the ball is transferred to the glass?  The physical laws that you are describing is just how things behave.  They are not prescriptive, and do not have causal power.

To the extent that physical laws are purely descriptive, so is the notion of causality. It is simply a description that certain things tend to follow other things.