There is no room in the laws of Physics for choice. When we think we are making a choice, it is true that we could not have chosen any other way.
When you flip a coin, the coin doesn't chose to be heads or tails, it happens becase of the laws of chaos, aerodynamics and conservation of momentum. Subtle changes can effect whether the coin is heads or tails, yes - but the coin never choses. Our brains obey the same laws of physics as the coin - we 'decide' things based on how our brain is hard-wired, which essentially is down to nature and nurture. If that is the case, if I ask you to chose heads or tail, your decision is made in your brain and cannot have been made any other way. The only place choice is allowed is in religion (most religions say that choice is a gift from God, and that our decisions are our own).
Can an atheist believe in choice? If you believe in choice, how can you accept that the physical world is all there is?
2007-02-19 20:42:11 · 11 answers · asked by Mawkish 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Smarty Pants: Yes, they are all decisions that need to be made, but do you really believe if you were given a choice you can affect what choice is made? The choice is already made by the way your brain is hard-wired, so you are just a spectator of your own choices with no real input at all.
2007-02-19 20:52:55 · update #1
Mahal: I was waiting for an answer like this. Do you really think you chose to answer this question? You read the question, and you answered the question, that is true, but did you choose to? The real question, I suppose, is could you have chosen NOT to answer the question? I don't think you could - your brain is hard-wired such that this question prompted a response, and you had no real choice in the matter. Again, you were nothing more than a spectator.
2007-02-19 20:58:28 · update #2
Vlasko: I would prefer it if you didn't call me ignorant. Especially as I myself am an Atheist - maybe that only serves to demonstrate your own ignorance.
2007-02-19 20:59:24 · update #3
deazone: Quantum mechanics deals in probability, not in choice. I'm afraid a lot of people who have never actually studied quantum mechanics don't realise this.
2007-02-19 21:02:21 · update #4
" Man can do what he wills but he cannot will what he wills."
Schopenhauer
2007-02-19 20:48:04 · answer #1 · answered by skeptic 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheist can believe in choice, but personally I don't think that it exists at the same level that they might think it does. A lot of people like to think of the mind like a quantum machine and as such choice is real. I have not studied enough in this realm to change my mind yet. I have seen a few movies on it and they all seem to be pseudo science. When I further research the claims of the movies they end up to be bogus.
2007-02-20 04:52:29 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good question,but a difficult one. I thought the same about re incarnation, it must be easier to be born in to a body that is happy,healthy and seems never to get depressed, do we choose before birth?Maybe there really are no choices, even bad mistakes when you look back,were usually the ones you thought at the time would be right or make you happy. A lot of unlikely people in this world today are super rich because of an accident of birth making them attractive or pushy or meet the right people along the way to help them. At least you are a thinker:)
2007-02-20 04:55:03 · answer #3 · answered by Juliette 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Ya want choice? here ya go (to make it simple)I am thinking of a number between 1 and 25. Now what number am I thinking of? The answer is, None. But you made the choice to think about it didn't you.
2007-02-20 13:38:23 · answer #4 · answered by WTH (idea 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What you are stating there is a theory called "determinism."
Not all atheists are determinists - some are and some are not|
There are many theories in physics that indicate that physical reality is not deterministic| So a materialist is not necessarily a determinist|
But our knowledge of the existence of *God* is based upon the fact that the Act of Existence (esse) of the finite universe is *contingent* (can possibly not be), so requires its explanation in a being who is *necessary* (cannot possibly not be), which we define as God, as this necessity of God also dictates His infinity|
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2007-02-20 04:51:24 · answer #5 · answered by Catholic Philosopher 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just another ignorant person who does not understand Atheism. Atheist; one who denies the existence of God. Where did you get the idea that Atheists believe that the physical world is all there is? We just don't believe in a magical being that does favors.
2007-02-20 04:58:07 · answer #6 · answered by Vlasko 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Human makes choice, but it is not something to believe with it is the action of an individual to have a choice for itself.
2007-02-20 05:01:15 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I just made a choice to answer this question.
The laws of physics don't cover the dynamic nature of life, they only cover the boundaries we live in.
2007-02-20 04:55:22 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I am atheist. I believe we all make choices everyday. How do you drink your coffee? What will you wear? Will you bite your tongue or holler back when someone is rude?
It's all about choices.
2007-02-20 04:46:41 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
We do have a choice, but we don't always make the right decisions.
2007-02-20 04:53:09 · answer #10 · answered by tracy211968 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Science "laws" are not definite.... they are theories that have yet to be disproved..
2007-02-20 04:55:11 · answer #11 · answered by XX 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋