Reduction, mechanism and all that

Why I am a heretic

The name of this blog recognizes that some of my views are seen by many to be obviously wrong.  An example of this cropped up recently, when I posted a comment on John Wilkins’ blog.  John seemed to think that I was obviously wrong, though another commenter seemed to agree with me.

Evidently the way I look at the issues is very different from the way that John (and many others) look at the same issues.  This post is intended to discuss those differences in viewpoint, as best I understand them.