unless the person pays them money to remove the curse the person will die
The OP’s description doesn’t seem to imply that refusal to pay causes the death. The oracle is simply saying that there are two possible futures: in one, the victim pays the money and survives; in the other one, the victim doesn’t pay and doesn’t survive.
I guess the difference in our interpretations is what we take the “and” to mean; you seem to see it as denoting causation, whereas I’d say it’s merely denoting temporal consecution.
The oracle is simply saying that there are two possible futures
I think you mean “that there are only two possible futures.”
Which leaves me puzzled as to your point.
If I am confident that there are only two possible futures, one where I pay and live, and one where I don’t pay and die, how is that different from being confident that paying causes me to live, or from being confident that not-paying causes me to die? Those just seem like three different ways of describing the same situation to me.
The OP’s description doesn’t seem to imply that refusal to pay causes the death.
I’m rephrasing Lumifers example to a person who doesn’t work within the traditionally accepted medical field.
It makes no statement about how the causation works. That means a person who doesn’t know how the causation works can not sure that the oracle doesn’t cause it in some way.
The OP’s description doesn’t seem to imply that refusal to pay causes the death. The oracle is simply saying that there are two possible futures: in one, the victim pays the money and survives; in the other one, the victim doesn’t pay and doesn’t survive.
I guess the difference in our interpretations is what we take the “and” to mean; you seem to see it as denoting causation, whereas I’d say it’s merely denoting temporal consecution.
I think you mean “that there are only two possible futures.”
Which leaves me puzzled as to your point.
If I am confident that there are only two possible futures, one where I pay and live, and one where I don’t pay and die, how is that different from being confident that paying causes me to live, or from being confident that not-paying causes me to die? Those just seem like three different ways of describing the same situation to me.
I’m rephrasing Lumifers example to a person who doesn’t work within the traditionally accepted medical field.
It makes no statement about how the causation works. That means a person who doesn’t know how the causation works can not sure that the oracle doesn’t cause it in some way.