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Regarding your either/or line of reasoning in your first paragraph. Are you sure these are the only two possibilities? Could there be partial dependence on th
by syki 5y ago
Regarding your either/or line of reasoning in your first paragraph. Are you sure these are the only two possibilities? Could there be partial dependence on the current state of one’s mind and environment? Does the same exact state always lead to the same exact decision? That is, if a universe began exactly as ours did and everything was the same up until time t when a decision is made by someone is that decision always the same? It seems to be to yes and that would support your view but does it have to be yes.
Also, I wonder if your either/or line of reasoning depends on the Law of the Excluded middle. What happens to your reasoning if that law is not true?
- danbruc 5y agoOne can certainly also imagine a mix of both option, for example your preferences deterministically determine which options you consider but a random event determines the choice you make. But that doesn't make a big difference, it's still a mix of predetermined and random things. A third option would have to be a wild thing - a choice would have to neither depend on the state of the universe, i.e. be determined, nor be independent of the state of the universe, i.e. be random. I personally don't see any room for a third option but there are probably a lot of things you could try to poke holes into. Is the state of the universe a meaningful concept? How does it relate to time? Does true randomness exist?
- syki 5y agoI was thinking of the third option. I don’t have anything intelligent to say about that option but posed it as a possibility. I imagine that believing in the third option would roughly be equivalent to a religious belief. That is, one believes that option because the alternative is unpalatable.