Do You Believe in Free Will?

[spiritually inclined]

Yes? No? Why or why not?

My inclination is to think that our choices are not entirely free. That is, we have a choice of A, B, and C in a given situation. Using reason, we can choose one course of action while rejecting the other two.

That is, I can choose one career path over another. etc

Thoughts?

James

 

[3.14]

i don't know gota ask god if his plan is to make me anser yes or no

 

[tariqkhwaja]

I agree with you Spritually Inclined individual

 

[Willamena]

Yes? No? Why or why not?

My inclination is to think that our choices are not entirely free. That is, we have a choice of A, B, and C in a given situation. Using reason, we can choose one course of action while rejecting the other two.

That is, I can choose one career path over another. etc

Thoughts?

James

I believe in free will, but not one that has to do with choices. Decisions are determined by us before we become aware of them, and furthermore present an image of a split path when in reality there is no split path; so in the career path, for instance, when I have made a decision, that is the path.

Free will, to me, is simply the social construct of control or mastery of the "self". Armed with free will, we develop a picture filled with responsibility, trust, relationships, contracts, agreements, and every other social interaction that "self" has with other "selves".

 

[BucephalusBB]

I believe in free will, but not one that has to do with choices. Choices are determined by us before we become aware of them, and furthermore present an image of a split path when in reality there is no split path; so in the career path, for instance, when I have made a decision, that is the path.

Agree..

Free will, to me, is simply the social construct of control or mastery of the "self". Armed with free will, we develop a picture filled with responsibility, trust, relationships, contracts, agreements, and every other social interaction that "self" has with other "selves".

Disagree. For me, this path is the same as the careerpath.

 

[sandandfoam]

I think that we have some choice in how we feel about things, and that this has a knock on effect.

 

[Charity]

Yes I believe in free will

 

[The Voice of Reason]

As a devout agnostic, I would have to say that "Free Will" is a given.

With no evidence that God exists, it would be preposterous to believe that my decisions have been preordained, or limited in any way (metaphyiscally speaking).

 

[BucephalusBB]

As a devout agnostic, I would have to say that "Free Will" is a given.

With no evidence that God exists, it would be preposterous to believe that my decisions have been preordained, or limited in any way (metaphyiscally speaking).

If looking at human kind and life in general as automated it is far from preposterous.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

If looking at human kind and life in general as automated it is far from preposterous.

How do you see human life (or life in general) as being automated?

 

[BucephalusBB]

How do you see human life (or life in general) as being automated?

The action-reaction scheme in total combined with hormones, lifestyle, history, relations.. Eventually a choice may feel like a choice, but actually never was a choice.

If everything in this world is based on rules (Or better, we can make rules out of it's pattern) and we live by those rules, why is it so strange that those rules live in us just as hard?

 

[sandandfoam]

The action-reaction scheme in total combined with hormones, lifestyle, history, relations.. Eventually a choice may feel like a choice, but actually never was a choice.

If everything in this world is based on rules (Or better, we can make rules out of it's pattern) and we live by those rules, why is it so strange that those rules live in us just as hard?

I generally agree but I do think we have some control over our emotions and as such can, to a degree, control the frame in which our movie is playing.

 

[BucephalusBB]

I generally agree but I do think we have some control over our emotions and as such can, to a degree, control the frame in which our movie is playing.

Yeah well, my problem is that I would like to believe that, but I can imagine how everything works automated, but I can't work out what would trigger that "some control".

 

[sandandfoam]

but I can't work out what would trigger that "some control".

I can only work outwards from my own experience. I loved marathon and ultra-marathon running, they are an emotional as well as a physical journey. I found that when I felt physically exhausted I could adjust my emotions - make myself feel positive and happy - and keep going. In my experience the decision to be positive often results in positivity, I am what triggers 'some control' in me.

 

[BucephalusBB]

In my experience the decision to be positive often results in positivity,

wich would give the body a reason to be positive right...?


On more serious note, what is "I" ?

 

[The Voice of Reason]

The action-reaction scheme in total combined with hormones, lifestyle, history, relations.. Eventually a choice may feel like a choice, but actually never was a choice.

If everything in this world is based on rules (Or better, we can make rules out of it's pattern) and we live by those rules, why is it so strange that those rules live in us just as hard?

I guess I'm a simple man. I see not "rules" that dictate whether we choose to rise at 9AM, or sleep in until 11AM. I see no rules that force me to choose a cheeseburger for lunch, or skip lunch altogether and use that time to get married to a woman I just met.

I see my life as one large example of Free Will, with absolutely no rules governing my choices whatsoever.

 

[sandandfoam]

On more serious note, what is "I" ?

The million dollar question.
I think "I" is our ego identity that is psychosocial. I think it is a social construct, and it is also the existential self or 'self as subject' of James. These different perspectives on identity reflect levels of understanding about what is "I" but they all have insights, and are all useful. Bottom line - I'm not sure what constitutes "I", but I see too much evidence of it to deny its existence.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

The million dollar question.
I think "I" is our ego identity that is psychosocial. I think it is a social construct, and it is also the existential self or 'self as subject' of James. These different perspectives on identity reflect levels of understanding about what is "I" but they all have insights, and are all useful. Bottom line - I'm not sure what constitutes "I", but I see too much evidence of it to deny its existence.

"Cogito, ergo sum." - Rene Descartes

 

[sandandfoam]

"Cogito, ergo sum." - Rene Descartes

How do you know the thoughts are yours?

 

[The Voice of Reason]

How do you know the thoughts are yours?

Just as Descartes did. Reduced to its essence, thought cannot exist without a mind to conceive it. That mind is "you". Or "I", as posed by Bouncing Ball.