3 ms·
Without the concept of free will in humans, which many now accept as a possibility, what would be the fundamental difference between an entity such as the sun,
by lakeshastina 3y ago
Without the concept of free will in humans, which many now accept as a possibility, what would be the fundamental difference between an entity such as the sun, a plant and a human? None, except the lifespan.
- dumbo-octopus 3y ago"Other than that indefinable quality that distinguishes us from other things, how are we different from other things?"
- trescenzi 3y agoI think the point is a bit more interesting than that. If you instead suppose we don't have free will, and there is no indefinable quality, then suddenly it’s not anymore scary to be a conscious galaxy than it is to be a human.
- dumbo-octopus 3y agoRight, but you're supposing away the entire essence of the discussion. If you take for granted we have no free will, our indistinguishability from anything else in the universe is an immediately obvious logical consequence.
- prng2021 3y agoYou think that human free will is the defining factor of whether all things in the universe are the same or not?
- lukan 3y agoI don't think that was implied, but rather the sun does, what the sun does and we do, what we do. If we do not have free will, but every action, every thought is a determined reaction of the state of things, than we would also be "trapped". But we do not (normally) perceive it as such. We experience our lives and we live it. We act. Even though our actions might come from a deep automatism. For the sun it might be the same, just on a whole different level.
- noduerme 3y agoDoes a person completely immobilized but awake lack free will? Maybe free will isn't the right measurement of consciousness or intelligence.