Choices are made in the brain, which is made of matter, which follows the laws of physics. There is no question of choice involved. In case it operates on quantum structures (We don't know yet), there will be elements of true randomness. This is like flipping a coin, and is not a component of free will.
Again I say that free will is an illusion. It's an important illusion. Otherwise we may go crazy. But in reality, it is fake.
2006-12-09 03:26:03 · 22 answers · asked by Bhagwad 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Going to jail is not punishment. It is cause and effect. I break the law and get caught, I go to jail. I'm specifically using the word punishment here to imply moral responsibility.
2006-12-09 03:29:46 · update #1
Why isn't anyone understanding my point here? Yes, the brain is self referential, but it is A CLOSED SYSTEM! There is no 'Soul' sitting inside having a physical effect on my very physical synapses.
2006-12-09 03:33:11 · update #2
What's your scientific evidence that consciousness is simply an epiphenomenon of brain function? That's simply an assumption, not a scientific datum. In fact, reductionistic materialism is, in the end, incapable of accounting for the existence of consciousness itself, and most thoroughgoing materialists end up denying the reality of consciousness!
On the contrary, rather than truncating our experience to fit in the a priori categories of reductionistic materialism, I think we should give priority to the data of experience, and consciousness and freedom are two of the most fundamental aspects of that experience. So no: the causal efficacy of consciousness, and the existence of self-determination, are not illusions. The illusion is the universe of pure exteriority posited by materialism.
Look at "Unsnarling the World-Knot: Consciousness, Freedom, and the Mind-Body Problem" by David Ray Griffin for a thorough review of the literature and a brilliant exposition of one possible naturalistic, but not materialistic, account of consciousness.
Freedom is real, and your mind is real, and they are not reducible to material processes.
2006-12-09 03:39:40 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Prescribed by the Great Physician
*****************************
The next time you feel like GOD can't use you, just remember...
Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ
The Disciples fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer..AND
Lazarus was dead!
Now! No more excuses!
God can use you to your full potential.
Besides you aren't the message, you are just the
messenger.
1. God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.
2. Dear God, I have a problem, it's Me.
3. Growing old is inevitable .. growing UP is
optional.
4. There is no key to happiness. The door is always
open.
5. Silence is often misinterpreted but never
misquoted.
6. Do the math .. count your blessings.
7. Faith is the ability to not panic.
8. Laugh every day, it's like inner jogging.
9. If you worry, you didn't pray . If you pray,
don't worry.
10. As a child of God, prayer is kind of like calling
home everyday.
11. Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be
bent out of shape.
12. The most important things in your house are the
people.
13 When we get tangled up in our problems, be still.
God wants us to be still so He can untangle the knot.
14. A grudge is a heavy thing to carry.
15 He who dies with the most toys is still dead.
Have a great day!!! The SON is shining and He
can certainly use you!
2006-12-09 03:29:20 · answer #2 · answered by BrotherB 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
We do have free will, it is not a illusion. We make the choices we make, we can think thru and weigh our options then make the decision on what ever it is, if we make a decision that effects some one else, or that is against the law then yes we will get punished for that or those choices. If it were randomness, then we would all be walking veggies, if the randomness actually was to make our legs move to walk. Really think about what you are saying, then apply it to Everything. There is so many holes in it that would change all of what we know, feel, and do; in every aspect of our lives.
2006-12-09 03:36:17 · answer #3 · answered by Fantasy Kel 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are some things that haven't been explained by science yet. No one really knows how brains come up with thoughts, but it is NOT like flipping a coin. The way you think depends on your childhood, instincts, personality,talents. Your brain may not follow laws of physics. You DO have free will. Right now, you are thinking about how you don't have free will, but no one else sees it the way you do, and you think that because you must be a scientific person. That's a good thing, until you assume everything is science.
2006-12-09 08:42:21 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
So choices are a matter of the laws of physics? Does that mean we cannot punish murderers, rapists, or child molestors because after all they have no free will. Maybe the judge can just flip a coin to decide whether they should go to jail or not.
Every person controls their own thoughts and their own choices. To call that an illusion is just not common sense.
2006-12-09 03:30:46 · answer #5 · answered by mark777 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If you have a choice to do right or wrong, you have free will.
God did give you that. Its not an illusion. Whats the illusion is what you think, act, an live in everyday. All that will disappear at the appearing of Christ, then reality sets in. Its good to grab the reality of Christ now, so your life is no longer the illusion, but fact, Jesus can set your mind free, and your will, once your free, you have no more fear of the illusion of fake faith the world set up for you, to destroy what God made good for you.
2006-12-09 03:33:48 · answer #6 · answered by Faith Walker 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think of the main "Logical" reaction from some Christians could be "God works in mysterious techniques previous our thinking", it conveniently covers maximum questions approximately God. whether to human beings like us that is not a fulfilling answer. that is unusual thinking that an all-understanding all-powerful being that is generally happening with each thing could create us in simple terms to deliver us to eternal damnation. i've got self assurance that life is nearly a storybook. The pages are already revealed and the tale relies upon activities that have befell past. All we are at right now could be at a particular website. If that is sensible to you, then you definately could see what it may be unusual for a respected, benevolent being to do some thing so merciless as to punish us for some thing he finally has finished administration over. there is not something to assert that if there's a God, he isn't unavoidably Christian. i incredibly may well be seen as Agnostic Deist*. to cut back a protracted tale short, my thought is "If there's a God, then he isn't concerning himself along with his introduction", this may well be a logical reaction to the two "Why won't be able to we see God?" and "God works in mysterious techniques". Now, in simple terms because of the fact we've not got administration over our very own destiny it would not advise that existence isn't in simple terms a "shallow lie". existence is a narrative e book, and we are the two the characters and the readers. properly, that is my own opinion of it besides. And somebody/some thing DID write the e book. you may look into Deism and Agnosticism. might provide you some thing exciting to study. EDIT: God won't care in case you beleive in him or not, there won't additionally be any result. If he's incredibly all-loving, ever affected person and all-knowledgable, then he will comprehend why you do not beleive in him, and he will in no way hate you for it.
2016-12-13 05:43:53 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Free will, if you mean the ability to choose God, is an illusion, but not for the reasons you've described, if you'll accept my definition instead of yours. God must choose us. If we are all by nature sinful, then it doesn't matter what the quantum structures are, we're headed for the same place regardless.
2006-12-09 03:33:04 · answer #8 · answered by ccrider 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are very right, scientifically, free will is not able to be demonstrated, and scriptural, there is no free will at all. In the Bible man never chooses in and of himself.
Free will means to make a UNCAUSED choice, and God always causes our choices. God will not punish people but teach them from their mistakes. The Bible says that he is making children that he wants to grow up and be like him, and that, unlike Christianity teaches, is everyone.
2006-12-09 03:31:43 · answer #9 · answered by billy d 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I rather believe that decisions are made or influenced by the soul which is spiritual.
the brain is just an instrument comprised of matter as you have alluded to.
ps the definition of soul is: mind,will,emotions
we live in a temple of clay,and the brain is an instrument of thought implementation rather than origin of decision
2006-12-09 03:34:22 · answer #10 · answered by bonsai bobby 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋