Conditioning Connections (BPC)
| Broad Physical Categories (BPC) | Definition |
|---|---|
| 2. Characteristic | An aspect of an existent’s identity. |
| 3. Conditioning Connection | A characteristic of an existent where all or part of the identity of that existent is dependent in part on a characteristic of another existent. |
For example: material conditions strength. The strength of a beam, is conditioned by the kind of material it's made out of, whether wood or steel or something else.
Conditioning connections are often referred to as causal connections, but the standard conceptualization of causal connection packages together two things that actually aren't the same. Causal connections involve time—first there's a cause, then there's an effect. Because of this, cause should only refer to specific conditioning connections that involve action. Not all conditioning connections, not all connections between facts, actually involve action.
In the case of the Pythagorean theorem, one property of a triangle—it's having a right angle—necessitates another property of that triangle, its sides obeying certain ratios. This relationship, this formula, is not the result of some action but a result of a relationship between the sides. It's not like first there's a right angle, and then only later does the ratio between the sides happen. That's not how it works. So we need a category(conditioning connections) to refer broadly to all connections between facts while reserving the category of causal connections to identify conditioning connections that involve action.
Since my conceptualization captures differences that the standard concept of causal connection does not, it should replace the standard concept in your vocabulary. This is what it means for concepts to be objective—that some conceptualizations are better than others.
"Conditioning connections are the payoff of all knowledge. By understanding how certain characteristics depend on others, we are able to predict and control nature. This is the reason "knowledge is power". If we need heat at night, we ignite wood because we know that burning causes heat. If we need a building to have more strength, we build it out of steel instead of wood since we know that material conditions strength. If we want to light our homes, then we run electric current through wires since we know that electric current causes a wire to glow. Conditioning connections are the most powerful weapons in mankind's arsenal in his quest to conquer nature."