Free Will as Nonsense.

[dianaiad]

....

The entire concept seems more surface-level and superficial, kind of like "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime." That may be how we mere mortals have to operate within the limitations of our current technologies and understanding of human behavior. But if there is some sort of intelligent designer or creator, then it would seem that he or she would have to have intimate knowledge of our inner workings and programming.

Actually, 'if you can't do the time, don't do the crime' isn't at all superficial. It acknowledges the truth; choices are about consequences, not about the act. Whenever one makes a choice, no matter what it is, it's about what follows.

Have you ever made a choice that was NOT about the consequences, no matter how trivial it seems?

One chooses the red M&M over the green one...why? Because one likes green and wants to save all the green ones for last?

One chooses this off ramp over the next one, even though both will get you to your destination, because one thinks THIS off-ramp has a shorter route, or a prettier one, or passes by a Starbucks...

One chooses the auburn hair color over the deep red one because....

One chooses to get a flu shot today rather than tomorrow because....

There is ALWAYS a 'because,' and that 'because' = 'consequences." It's not superficial. It's the whole point. In fact, that's how society judges whether the chooser is 'sane' according to it's rules, isn't it: it's not the act itself that defines insanity, but the reason why the act is committed.

Of course, the definitions of 'evil,' 'sane' and 'insane' are really squishy. Subjective in the extreme, utterly dependent upon the society in question, and subject to change and broad interpretations.