Our server costs ~$56 per month to run. Please consider donating or becoming a Patron to help keep the site running. Help us gain new members by following us on Twitter and liking our page on Facebook!
Current time: December 1, 2024, 7:54 am
Atheist Forums › Community › Philosophy v
Metatrying - i.e. "Trying to try"

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Thread Modes
Metatrying - i.e. "Trying to try"
Edwardo Piet Away
Devil's Supercardo.
Religious Views: Atheistic panexperientialism
Posts: 43162
Threads: 720
Joined: September 21, 2008
Reputation: 133
#1
Metatrying - i.e. "Trying to try"
January 14, 2011 at 9:03 am (This post was last modified: January 14, 2011 at 9:04 am by Edwardo Piet.)
Is "trying to try" possible? If not, and you can't "try to try" but you can only "try" then can you ultimately do anything freely?

If "trying to try" is possible and so so is "trying to try to try" and "trying to try to try to try" and so on, can you gain control of that infinite regress?
Find
Reply
Darwinian Offline
Original Admin - Retired
*****
Religious Views: Hoopy Frood
Posts: 4349
Threads: 385
Joined: August 25, 2008
Reputation: 57
#2
RE: Metatrying - i.e. "Trying to try"
January 14, 2011 at 9:07 am

[Image: cinjin_banner_border.jpg]
Find
Reply
Edwardo Piet Away
Devil's Supercardo.
Religious Views: Atheistic panexperientialism
Posts: 43162
Threads: 720
Joined: September 21, 2008
Reputation: 133
#3
RE: Metatrying - i.e. "Trying to try"
January 14, 2011 at 9:20 am
Spam much?
Find
Reply
Darwinian Offline
Original Admin - Retired
*****
Religious Views: Hoopy Frood
Posts: 4349
Threads: 385
Joined: August 25, 2008
Reputation: 57
#4
RE: Metatrying - i.e. "Trying to try"
January 14, 2011 at 9:22 am
Not spam. Just a gut reaction to all the threads you keep posting trying to define the meanings of words and phrases.
[Image: cinjin_banner_border.jpg]
Find
Reply
thesummerqueen Offline
I Make Sarcasm Look Good
*****
Religious Views: Bagels
Posts: 12586
Threads: 397
Joined: September 17, 2010
Reputation: 96
#5
RE: Metatrying - i.e. "Trying to try"
January 14, 2011 at 9:35 am
"Do, or do not. There is no try."
[Image: Untitled2_zpswaosccbr.png]
Find
Reply
AtheistPhil Offline
Junior Member
**
Religious Views: ignostic
Posts: 226
Threads: 2
Joined: November 20, 2008
Reputation: 11
#6
RE: Metatrying - i.e. "Trying to try"
January 14, 2011 at 1:16 pm
DoubtVsFaith Wrote:Is "trying to try" possible? If not, and you can't "try to try" but you can only "try" then can you ultimately do anything freely?
If "trying to try" is possible and so so is "trying to try to try" and "trying to try to try to try" and so on, can you gain control of that infinite regress?

I think it's possible. One example: if you're playing a game where you have to throw a dice and get a 6 in order to have one attempt at spinning a wheel which can make you win a prize. You are trying to try to win the prize when you're throwing the dice.
You can generalize that example and make a chain of "try" as long as you want with chance games.
Does it answer your question ?
[Image: pPQu8.png]
Find
Reply
The Omnissiunt One Offline
Atheist and grammar Nazi
***
Religious Views: Born again atheist
Posts: 647
Threads: 9
Joined: March 3, 2010
Reputation: 14
#7
RE: Metatrying - i.e. "Trying to try"
January 14, 2011 at 3:47 pm
'Trying' means 'making a conscious effort to do something', presumably with some aim in mind. So, 'trying to try' is 'making a conscious effort to make a conscious effort to achieve x'. But if you are making a conscious effort to do this, surely you already have the aim of doing x, otherwise there would be no reason for you to make this effort to make an effort. Also, making an effort to make an effort to achieve x is effectively making an effort to achieve x, as you already have the aim, and you are doing something to achieve it. So 'trying to try' reduces to 'trying'. That's what I think, anyway.
'We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.' H.L. Mencken

'False religion' is the ultimate tautology.

'It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.' Mark Twain

'I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.' Abraham Lincoln
Find
Reply
Oldandeasilyconfused Offline
Senior Member
****
Religious Views: Agnostic Atheist
Posts: 7388
Threads: 168
Joined: February 25, 2009
Reputation: 45
#8
RE: Metatrying - i.e. "Trying to try"
January 14, 2011 at 7:46 pm
The Omnissiunt One;114304 Wrote:'Trying' means 'making a conscious effort to do something', presumably with some aim in mind. So, 'trying to try' is 'making a conscious effort to make a conscious effort to achieve x'. But if you are making a conscious effort to do this, surely you already have the aim of doing x, otherwise there would be no reason for you to make this effort to make an effort. Also, making an effort to make an effort to achieve x is effectively making an effort to achieve x, as you already have the aim, and you are doing something to achieve it. So 'trying to try' reduces to 'trying'. That's what I think, anyway.


Quote: "TRY? There is no"try".There is either 'do' or 'not do" (Yoda)

Sorry,couldn't resist. My bad.Tiger
Find
Reply
thesummerqueen Offline
I Make Sarcasm Look Good
*****
Religious Views: Bagels
Posts: 12586
Threads: 397
Joined: September 17, 2010
Reputation: 96
#9
RE: Metatrying - i.e. "Trying to try"
January 14, 2011 at 7:50 pm
padraic Wrote:
Quote: "TRY? There is no"try".There is either 'do' or 'not do" (Yoda)

Sorry,couldn't resist. My bad.Tiger

Tongue I was up till 3 am and running on fumes this morning. Many pardons.

The Falcon picked me up and took me to my favorite pub where the fare was considerably better than what you'd find at Mos Eisley, and so we nearly shut the place down.

[hugs]
[Image: Untitled2_zpswaosccbr.png]
Find
Reply
Welsh cake Offline
Banned
Religious Views: Apatheist
Posts: 2254
Threads: 85
Joined: January 24, 2010
Reputation: 29
#10
RE: Metatrying - i.e. "Trying to try"
January 15, 2011 at 7:38 am
DoubtVsFaith Wrote:Is "trying to try" possible? If not, and you can't "try to try" but you can only "try" then can you ultimately do anything freely?
In psychology it is.

[Image: procrastination.jpg]

Find
Reply


Atheist Forums › Community › Philosophy v
Metatrying - i.e. "Trying to try"

Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Trying to simplify my Consciousness hypothesis Won2blv 83 16878 February 21, 2017 at 1:31 pm
Last Post: The Grand Nudger
  Trying to Understand Many-Worlds Interpretation Better GrandizerII 45 8100 November 29, 2014 at 5:05 pm
Last Post: Alex K
  Are we all just part of a computer simulation? Scientists are trying to find that out. TaraJo 40 16536 December 26, 2012 at 2:55 pm
Last Post: Whateverist



Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)