...or are our actions predetermined by preceding events according to the natural laws and the chemical interactions in our brain?
Feel free to discuss.
I think you need to rewatch Forest Gump. You really don’t know and it’s a bit of both but you won’t realize it until you are 50 and your GF/Bestie dies of AIDS.
Do humans actually have free will?
Yes, you have complete autonomy to f**k up.
The better question is not free will but Free Willy. I mean one part of me says free the poor animal, the other half says that animal is so dependent on humans he will be eaten alive on the streets of Atlantis.
It's just a philosophical question that has intrigued me for a long time. I'm taking an intro to philosophy class as one of my electives so I thought I'd ask it.
Some people believe that free will is a conscious illusion and that if we take consciousness away, we would still do the exact same things...like a highly complex robot.
if we take consciousness away, we would still do the exact same things
Kind of like repeated boner threads, I am a male pro with no karma threads, and why does she charge me for cuddling threads?
Not really. Though I don't really care to ponder it much, because it serves me little to no purpose nor elevates my life or improves my circumstances.
I'm not very much a philosophically inclined person as far as my interest and thought processes go, though I can respect that some are more into that. 😊
The better question is not free will but Free Willy
And you guys that pondered and touched the zipper of your pants—that wasn’t free will, that was conditioning. I mean come on, Free Willy was a family movie.
I heard about a brain disorder where a person feels like they are outside their body observing their life as if they were watching a movie. I had to ask ChatGPT what it was:
The condition you're describing sounds like depersonalization disorder, a type of dissociative disorder. Depersonalization involves an ongoing or recurrent feeling of detachment or estrangement from one's own body, thoughts, perceptions, actions, or sense of self. People with this disorder often describe feeling as though they are observing their lives from outside their bodies or as if they are in a dream.
However, it's important to note that experiencing depersonalization occasionally, especially in times of severe stress or trauma, is not uncommon and doesn't necessarily indicate a disorder. For it to be considered a disorder, these feelings must persist or recur over time and cause significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. As with any mental health condition, a healthcare professional can provide a diagnosis and recommend appropriate treatment.
I was forced to write this. Jk.
Yeah, we have free will based on how we choose to respond to things happening around us that may have been put in place by either us or someone/something else.
@Mike403 Yeah, that looks to be on point. I experienced derealization in the past, which is to do with the environment rather than my perception of my body. Though I'd say neither in and of themselves are psychosis, because we are very much aware of the change in perception. We can also choose how we go about navigating things, at least that's the case with derealization.
@Lovelight - There were also stories about people sleepwalking and able to do complex activities such as driving a car, but has no conscious recollection of ever doing that.
The brain is so complex that the world's greatest scientists who ever lived doesn't really understand how it works except maybe its simplest circuits.
If humans don't have free will (as described in the original post) I think it would suggest that the human brain isn't as complex as we think it is.
Also, the smarter that A.I. language models become (and the more they are able to correctly understand context, create jokes based on things within the current conversation, and display other signs of active understanding), I'm inclined to believe not that the A.I. is especially intelligent but that perhaps a lot of our own cognitive abilities are (again) not as complex as we think they are.
OP, I am a determinist. Free will is an illusion but most people don’t care because they have the feeling of associating with their choices (until they run into compulsive behavior such as addiction maybe). A related question is also: what is the self? Is it the ego we associate with? Or more?
Absolutely not. Resistance is futile. Even if the Borg weren't involved...
Reality is subjective so...
@CamiCuddle and going with that philosophy self is perception. Its unique to each of us because there's no way it can't be. We see things and identify with things through the lenses of our experiences. No two lenses are exactly the same. In my opinion self depends on how we relate to ourselves.
All of my decisions are solely made by Sky Daddy.
@PixiePassions the singer*?
@stormydaycuddle - There's a singer?!
If we didn’t have free will, it wouldn’t matter what we eat when we’re hungry, we would just eat whatever is available we wouldn’t choose what we eat. If we didn’t have free will wouldn’t matter who we cuddle with even if they were rude or obnoxious not the persons image not the way they talk…Nothing. if we didn’t have free will, we can blame every crime on a chemical imbalance. If we didn’t have free will, we could blame every failure for not lack of trying or lack of practice, but simply for biological reasons. Society would become a bunch of irresponsible delinquents if there was no free will
I believe we have free will. I ALSO believe we tend to reject it in favor of crafted realities that allow us the illusion not only of free will, but free will that supports our best stories of ourselves (consider Sartre and magical thinking and Baudriallard on Simulations and Simulacra).
@PixiePassions Yeah, a few. I was thinking this one:
@lonelytauros that's assuming impulses are what make "free will". It could have a deeper level to it. That and free will doesn't mean physics isn't a thing. So if we ate whatever etc... it would still have an effect on our physical being.
@lonelytauros "If we didn’t have free will, it wouldn’t matter what we eat when we’re hungry, we would just eat whatever is available we wouldn’t choose what we eat."
Are you really choosing what you eat? Could you choose to eat ____ which you hate for the rest of your life and if so, are you ready to make that change?
I mean... if we assume we've free will, then perhaps we could choose not to get sick with anything or be harmed by anyone in anyway? Or am I maybe conflating different things...
@Lovelight free will over ourselves or the universe? Free will = Omnipotent?
@natickben I think rejecting free will despite having it is 100% a thing. People who blame others for their circumstance come to mind.
Onward to another question that I've actually wondered about. Does blaming yourself for other's circumstance make you arrogant in certain situations.
Without freewill there’s no choice there’s no choosing so when you go order your coffee tomorrow or you make your coffee tomorrow let’s just say everybody has their coffee Black no sugar no cream then that’s how everybody should drink their coffee let’s just say when you go and order something it’s not gonna matter what size you pick or choose there should only be one size to choose from if there’s no free will all restaurants All food service places would just serve one size basically. Why pick and choose what you wear for work or why pick and choose what you wear. If there’s no free will all you need is clothing for warmth it’s not gonna matter how you look if there’s no free will. why bother putting on make up if there’s no free will you are making a choice every time you put make up on For those that do
The human brain is a highly complex organ. Every thought we ever have comes from the physical chemical processes within our brain. It could be an illusion that are making a choice but is actually the result of the chemical reactions according to the natural laws that is causing us to make that choice.
@lonelytauros unless choice is an illusion and free will stops somewhere deeper on a cognitive level. We could all be a celestial toddler's toys...
If a chemical reaction is causing you to make a choice then why even prosecute criminals? Why would we ban members here we could simply say well it was a chemical reaction due to The natural laws . Why even have the word failure in our dictionary, why even have first second or third place why even have letter grades, or pass or fail. It’s like giving society no accountability and immunity to do whatever they want