4 ms·
Hm. I think we are mostly the same. I would say that you have free will if, after you have removed all possible influences, you are still able to choose. Man
by Xurinos 16y ago
Hm. I think we are mostly the same. I would say that you have free will if, after you have removed all possible influences, you are still able to choose. Many things in life reduce your choices, but reduced choices are still choices. We often have choices we ignore or neglect, too.
When I mentioned the manipulation, I meant that it was to be complete manipulation, whatever the source(s). My point was to differentiate it from predestiny, where the manipulator is a fundamental force (God or the movement of the structure of the universe).
- noodle 16y agoyou don't think that manipulation on the level of being able to fully remove free will would have to originate from a fundamental force?
- Xurinos 16y agoI can make my computer output the number 42, and we can argue that there is a force behind me that resulted in that program to output 42 (as well as in Scott Adams's choice of the number and my inevitable reading of his books, etc etc). But it is easier to identify that I manipulated my computer to output 42. Similarly, our environment may be affected by any number of forces, and we may be entirely pattern-matching, reacting machines who learned how to react from experiences in our environment.
- noodle 16y agohumans are sentient, though. yes, we have DNA that points us in a certain direction, our environment and upbringing point us in a certain direction, but this doesn't necessarily predetermine our outcomes. some people are a product of these things, and others break out of the proverbial mold.