They keep saying be logical, be logical. I'm atheist, and I'm saying it's not logical. All the top dogs figured that out: Nietzsche, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, etc...Yes, people have freedom of choice, but they never choose what choices will be presented, how their emotions react, or what they've learned thus far (and don't tell me that you can be born in Africa and still choose to be perfectly educated as a Harvard scholar). Knowledge chooses us. That means knowledge of what is "good" and what is "bad." Anyone who thinks they can choose what they want and how they feel is very naive, and control only comes with knowledge which is not equally distributed. Once you realize that freewill is an illusion, that people would be nothing without influence from the outside world (something not within our control) - you will have no reasons to hate anyone.
Even Richard Dawkins said humans are biological machines subject to programming.
2006-12-22 05:38:30 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
How do play chess if no one taught you? And how do you control who teaches you what?
2006-12-22 05:48:12 · update #1
Okay then let's say you're a slave during pre-colonial America. VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE LIKE ANYONE ELSE.
2006-12-22 05:51:18 · update #2
How can I choose what I learn if the world decides what I have access to? A person can choose who he is. Circumstance will.
2006-12-22 06:20:28 · update #3
Your logic and reasoning is ignoring the fact that people do not choose what inspires them.
2006-12-22 06:22:17 · update #4
I always considered freewill a religious term. Neuroscience tells us we are making choices based on the available information realitive to the information we have stored in our brains. The brain is essentially a probability calculator that increases in complexity through its growth and experience.
2006-12-22 05:44:04 · answer #1 · answered by One & only bob 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, true. But a small amount of freewill does exist, even in your "logical" thinking. You see, I CAN choose what to do in any given circumstance. Even if there are only a couple choices. I CAN choose how I react to my environment -physically, and sometimes, even emotionally. You can also choose to be knowledgeable. You may not be able to choose which school you attend. But knowledge is everywhere. All you have to do is pay attention, and be willing to learn.
I don't need any individual person to teach me anything. I decide what to learn about, and I learn about it. Like, for instance, the Bermuda Triangle has always interested me. So, I picked up SEVERAL different books, by SEVERAL different authors, and read them. Granted there isn't much TRUE knowledge in any of them, but I made those choices, and I decided which was most likely true.
Freewill doesn't mean you are NEVER a victim of circumstance. We all are at some point in time, but we decide how we handle and react to those situations. Let's say a person is abused as a child (in any way you want to image). They can either CHOOSE to grow up, and raise their kids in that manner. Or, CHOOSE to not let their past determine their future.
So what if I don't choose what inspires me. I don't disagree that there are some aspects that we cannot choose, but that does not mean that freewill does not exist. I can choose whether or not to explore what interests me, and therein lies freewill.
2006-12-22 05:45:35 · answer #2 · answered by Amanda D 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Freewill isn't the freedom of making any choice from an infinite list of choices. It's being able to decide for yourself what action you will take at any given time, this is innate. If I'm thirsty i didn't make the choice to be thirsty, granted, however i do have the choice of weather to have a soda or water to satisfy my thirst, and if i choose to have a soda i can choose from any number of vending machines located in my building. None of those choices are predetermined. That is freewill, making decisions that are not predetermined.
2006-12-22 05:43:52 · answer #3 · answered by ChooseRealityPLEASE 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're asking the wrong question.
Knowledge does NOT choose us. An individual Chooses it.
Logic and Reason lead to an individual to become more self-aware. Rather than someone who sits and waits for choices to be presented to them, an individual is free to make decisions based on their own self interests. It's in the self interest of the individual to obtain Knowledge, not wait for it. The key Logic and Reason is the elimination of decisions based on emotional responses. This is what leads to Objectivity and free rational thought.
2006-12-22 06:16:44 · answer #4 · answered by Warp 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I disagree with you based upon the fact that many people born in Africa go on to become educated at Harvard, Yale and Stanford. Youre wrong. I was born and raised a Christian. I chose knowledge. Im now a proud, well educated Atheist. BY CHOICE.
2006-12-22 05:42:29 · answer #5 · answered by YDoncha_Blowme 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am an Atheist and I see 'free will' as a subjective and mostly meaningless term. Sure, when I get up in the morning, I can choose between a blue tie and a red tie, but, big deal, all important decisions are dictated by circumstance. "Free will" in the final analysis is just a term invented by religion to try to justify, with woeful inadequacy, the horrendous fate that supposedly befalls those who 'sin'
2006-12-22 05:56:41 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have seen the free will arguments and I don't buy it. How do you play chess without freewill?
2006-12-22 05:42:12 · answer #7 · answered by Gorgeoustxwoman2013 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
because we are not brainwashed by a christian fairy tale and have our lives run by a church
2006-12-22 05:42:49 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋