The man in the boat

This one deals with the idea of "letting things happen in a natural way". It always seemed to me that it's natural to act like that. Let us, though, convey an experiment.

Think of rafting. I put a man in a boat in a river and try to state some questions about the "natural" aspect of his actions.

I assume we neglect the fact that it's not quite natural for a man to go down a river ("down" is natural in this case, "in a river" bothers me), even though it's natural for a boat to be in the water.

Now, think of the man. What should he do? Is it natural for him to let the river do its natural job and take him to wherever the natural laws of physics command?

Maybe. He could also try and paddle, leading the boat to a chosen direction. Or try and crush it in the rocks instead.

The decision seems to depend on the knowledge the man has of the river and the effect of paddling. Or rather, it depends on what the man thinks he knows, as it should be clear, complete knowledge is impossible.

There is one important observation. The "man trying to understand the flow of the river" is too similar to "me trying to understand the man". I stop any further investigations till I know how natural they are.

Want some coffee?