Poll: Free will, does it exist?
- Thread starter Sad Robot
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Perhaps. Can an intense desire for internet pron and Laffy Taffy be considered slavery? If so I'm screwed.Sad Robot said:
Kind of like winning at the special olympics. Yes, you won a medal, but the fundamentals of your life have not changed at all.
Or perhaps we could liken finding agreement with someone on the Internet to peeing in a dark pair of pants. Yes you get that warm feeling, but you are still wearing pissy pants?
Meh...analogies fail me. I merely respected your logic and found we were coming from the same place
Or perhaps we could liken finding agreement with someone on the Internet to peeing in a dark pair of pants. Yes you get that warm feeling, but you are still wearing pissy pants?
Meh...analogies fail me. I merely respected your logic and found we were coming from the same place
We are nothing but massive aquous chemical reactors and as such we are at the mercy (control) of what happens in them. Before the turn of the 20th century, there were physicist who claimed that they could predict the future for all of the universe for all time. All they needed was to know the exact location and velocity of all particles in the universe. In the 20th century we have the development of atomic theory leading to quantum mechanics. This is what dictates what will happen in the chemical reactions that occur in our body and since quantum mechanics is fundamentally based on statistics, then there will be probabilities associated with whether or not a reaction will occur. Thus in a simplistic way, there will be certain probabilities associated with the decisions that we make.
Whether or not free will exists is - in my humble opinion - moot point. Take a person - let's call him Max - and give him a choice between guessing two completely random choices: A and B. Regardless of what he chooses, his answer is already rapidly moving into the time-frame of yesteryear.
Max may or may not have have had a legitimate choice between A and B once upon a time, but after it is made, the only point that line of reason serves him is to create a schema under which he is comfortable operating.
As for the deterministic appeal of the dancing atoms and particles determining all conclusions as the roll by, the decidedly spooky laws of quantum physics tends to throw a wrench into that machine. At least while our current interpretation exists.
Max may or may not have have had a legitimate choice between A and B once upon a time, but after it is made, the only point that line of reason serves him is to create a schema under which he is comfortable operating.
As for the deterministic appeal of the dancing atoms and particles determining all conclusions as the roll by, the decidedly spooky laws of quantum physics tends to throw a wrench into that machine. At least while our current interpretation exists.
Yes it does. If everything is predetermined, why? Who determined it? Why is it that way? Does someone already know what I'm going to have for breakfast tomorrow?
It exists, but only in the most limited sense, because on a quantum level all events are fundamentally random, and if you believe in God his decisions ultimately determine everything. But on the level of existence that we understand, if we really understand anything, and can interact with directly, we are ultimately responsible for everything we do. I must disagree with this physicist's assertion. The basis of all reasoning is the assumption that one's ability to reason exists, which necessitates the assumption that one's self exists.
Wow. That is an extrememly interesting thought. I always do tend to think of things in a realistic manner. Facts appeal to me rather than "just have faith". But this... maybe in the future scientists could look into this. Maybe it is true to some extent, because I can't imagin not being able to make decisions for myself. People think extremley complex thoughts all the time.
I think you people aren't getting the point of this. It's not saying you are a puppet being controlled and you can't do what you want to. It's that the workings of your mind made you respond to this thread or even post a picture of Wookies on Kashyk. And if you decided against something at the last minute, it's because of how your mind is made.
Interesting theory.
I think you people aren't getting the point of this. It's not saying you are a puppet being controlled and you can't do what you want to. It's that the workings of your mind made you respond to this thread or even post a picture of Wookies on Kashyk. And if you decided against something at the last minute, it's because of how your mind is made.
Interesting theory.
It a great quote but i dont agree, but i do believe, in free will, but a again it only exsite in situation that only affect and or depend on you. If anyone else is involved in any way what so ever than there is a little part of you brain that think of the consequences of the action that your about to do on that person which negates any and all free will.
Damn it! I was going to use that qoute!Commander Jack Rankin said:
Ah well...
Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.
Allow me to dispel the illusion for you... done...