What do you think? Does free will exist? Are humans driven by a metaphysical force? Or are people just reacting to causality?
Do you believe in free will?
- Thread starter No One Jones
- Start date
Recommended Videos
I remember getting into an exhausting argument the last time this thread popped up, so I'll just say "yes" and leave.
I believe so. But sometimes my free will is restricted by certain impositions such as school and family commitments.
People are simply reacting to causality. The human mind is not capable of comprehending the immensity and infinite expanse of possibility that lead up to the happy accident of life and the present moment. Or even on a smaller scale, all the decisions we make that affect others, and how all the decisions of people we know and will never know have an effect on us.
Free Will falls under the same rule as war, "One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic." One choice and consequence is my own doing, a Million is the work of god/fate/karma/whatever.
Every one of is us free to act in any fashion we choose, we make not like the consequences but we are each in control of our actions and choices. We are not always in control of the ripple effect those choices have. But there is no cosmic hand guiding us, or some divine being allowing us such freedom of action and motivation, implying that free will is simply the illusion of the invisible sky god who is really shaping the universe and thus our lives to their divine plan.
Life is a beautiful, chaotic and immeasurable force, One life moving through the world has an effect upon billions of others each day, every action, every word, every deed causes its own ripple in the pool, which in turn touches other lives that cause their own ripples and so on, and so forth.
Its the great majesty and complexity of life, its why we are so special to be human, its why the gift of life should never be taken for granted and why each of us should take responsibility for our words and deeds, holding ourselves accountable to our actions.
Free Will falls under the same rule as war, "One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic." One choice and consequence is my own doing, a Million is the work of god/fate/karma/whatever.
Every one of is us free to act in any fashion we choose, we make not like the consequences but we are each in control of our actions and choices. We are not always in control of the ripple effect those choices have. But there is no cosmic hand guiding us, or some divine being allowing us such freedom of action and motivation, implying that free will is simply the illusion of the invisible sky god who is really shaping the universe and thus our lives to their divine plan.
Life is a beautiful, chaotic and immeasurable force, One life moving through the world has an effect upon billions of others each day, every action, every word, every deed causes its own ripple in the pool, which in turn touches other lives that cause their own ripples and so on, and so forth.
Its the great majesty and complexity of life, its why we are so special to be human, its why the gift of life should never be taken for granted and why each of us should take responsibility for our words and deeds, holding ourselves accountable to our actions.
Sure I'll bite. I had a discussion about this earlier this evening with a good friend and he believes something similar to Void(null).Shine-osophical said:
Hurray! A bite!!!No One Jones said:
I believe that all events aren't predetermined (as that implies someone planning them before hand) but I do think they are inevitable. Even things as complex as humans use brains which are made up of matter and energy and both of those (even if we haven't figured out all the variables) are entirely predictable. So I don't think we have freewill as much as our minds are different to others. We do not actually have a choice (admittedly if you had a group of people, different people would choose different things)because we make all our decisions using a complex yet determinable brain. Basically if all the particles are in the same position moving in the same direction with the same speed and what not, we will make the same 'choice' as we did the first time and if the positions and stuff are different then we make a different 'choice' but even then that means the initial variables were different which means the situation is similar but not the same.
Basically I am saying that in EXACTLY the same conditions we will always do the same action but different people will do different things. So people don't choose to do anything in the sense that it was possible to choose to do something else.
If you need any clarifications on this (like if I didn't make much sense) then just ask.
No. My master controls my movements and activites. I bend to his whim and his alone. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go and shine some shoes.
Depends on which Will you're talking about. I know one down the street from me. He seems pretty free.
I had to...
I had to...
Well that's complicated isn't it? To a degree people are a product of their environment, and they only usually react based on past experience and current context, however I wouldn't go so far as to say that people only react as their environments dictates.
As near as I can tell, people make the decisions that they want to make, and as near as I can tell this is free will.
As near as I can tell, people make the decisions that they want to make, and as near as I can tell this is free will.
