Yeah the shortcomings of the agent model as do seem similar to the shortcomings of “self” as a primary concept, and the Buddhist critiques of “self” have informed my thinking on the agent model.
I had not considered dependent origination as an alternative to the agent model. I understand dependent origination as being the Buddha’s account of the causal chain that leads to suffering.
Do you have any rough sense for how might we use dependent origination to understand this phenomenon of entities in the world that exert influence over the future? I would be very interested in any rough thoughts you might have.
Hey Matt—long time!
Yeah the shortcomings of the agent model as do seem similar to the shortcomings of “self” as a primary concept, and the Buddhist critiques of “self” have informed my thinking on the agent model.
I had not considered dependent origination as an alternative to the agent model. I understand dependent origination as being the Buddha’s account of the causal chain that leads to suffering.
Do you have any rough sense for how might we use dependent origination to understand this phenomenon of entities in the world that exert influence over the future? I would be very interested in any rough thoughts you might have.