Does an ant have free will? Does a worm have free will? A dog? If not, why not? How are they different from humans?
2007-07-31 03:58:13 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
What determines whether an organism has free will?
2007-07-31 04:00:40 · update #1
Poppet: I'm trying to get at the fact that nobody and nothing has free will because their thoughts are determined by the laws of physics. I'm trying to get you to realize this.
2007-07-31 04:03:17 · update #2
Claptrap: How do you know that everything you do is not "instinct" too?
2007-07-31 04:04:36 · update #3
Fridge: Yes. Ask yourself what an instinct really is. It's an inborn desire to perform certain actions. A dog has an inborn desire to chase rabbits, but it determines the best way to do so. You have an inborn desire to have sex, but you determine the best way to do so. What's the difference?
2007-07-31 06:22:01 · update #4
Bacteria don't, actually. They are programmed to do the things they do, believe it or not - it's in their genes.
I'd say the rest of them do, but like most insects, ants still get lead by their instincts rather than free will - same with worms. Dogs are more domesticated and lost a lot of their instincts - ask a dog to hunt for its own food and the poor thing will starve to death - and I think that's where free will took over.
So apart from the bacteria, who really don't have free will or instinct, all the above do have free will.
By the way, I'm no christian. Sorry for answering the question anyway...
**edit**
So it's not free will, but instinct that makes me run to the nearest CD store?
I don't have an inborn desire to run to the CD store and buy the latest hard rock CD's... don't tell a behaviourist what instinct is, please - I *do* know the difference, you know.
And I've never seen my dog chase rabbits - and he's seen loads of them.
2007-07-31 04:12:49 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
All living creatures that have the ability to move, have a free will, because they have the ability to make choses in choosing a path. Animals have free will because they have a soul and a mind, but animals do not have a spirit, only humans have a mind, soul and spirit...rememeber, your soul is your body, all living creatures have a soul, but humans have a spirit. Bacteria is alive but because it is such a simple creation of life, its ability to make decisions is very limited, the more complex the mind of the creature, the more free will it has, therefore humans have a lot of free will even though they may not always like what choices they have to choose from. I hope this helps you.
2007-07-31 04:09:04 · answer #2 · answered by Nathaniel 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The bacteria thing is man made.
Society expects an antibiotic for everything giving the bacteria resistance to all the drugs. Quit using antibiotics for colds/flu as they are viruses and don't respond to a drug for bacteria!
MRSA is a prime example. A drug resistant strain of staph that is caused by abuse of antibiotics. Too late now.
Worms/ants not a bug/worm person, don't know.
Dogs are trained to be mean by man. Their free will involves survival.
2007-07-31 04:06:07 · answer #3 · answered by Nurse Winchester 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think free will means being able to make a decision that goes against one's instincts.
-Edit-
Instinct would be something that you cannot go against in a creature that cannot "think". Training is a form of "instinct", but can be overridden.
For instance, dogs trained to lead people across the road - that is training, but not instinct.
Dogs protecting their "pack" (human family) against straingers is instinct.
But a dog calling 911 (emergency services) when NOT trained to for a human that is choking would definitely be considered a "thinking" thing. I'd call it free will.
For humans, someone jumping in front of a bullet to save a stranger is - hmmm - I think not "thinking" because it happens too fast. But I'd call it free will as it goes against the instinct of self preservation.
2007-07-31 04:05:47 · answer #4 · answered by Tina Goody-Two-Shoes 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A rational animal (man) has free will. All other organisms are driven by instinct or natrual desire, example: hunger.
2007-07-31 04:02:20 · answer #5 · answered by Claptrap 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
God gave humans free will. But He is in control of everything else. An ant cant choose for or against GOd, He just does..... as nature shows him, which is from God. so sorry charlie, no free will for ants.
2007-07-31 04:03:26 · answer #6 · answered by full gospel shirley 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If your physics is correct then why do we get sick, it is not our choice to do this ,take the flu for example bacteria,how about food poisoning bacteria .these little blighters want to have constant sex and multiply at rapid rates < I would call that free will especially when you are their host,lice crawl into peoples hair ,they dont have to but they do. love and light
2007-07-31 04:10:15 · answer #7 · answered by Lightworker 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It takes brains to come up with those kind of questions, just like the insects you are asking about!
2007-07-31 04:02:15 · answer #8 · answered by Gerry 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I can't stop laughing. I see this mental picture of a bacteria committing suicide in my head and it's totally tripping me out!!!!
2007-07-31 04:03:02 · answer #9 · answered by ~Heathen Princess~ 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
no, they're conditioned just like all of us. There is no free will. Human beings must be glib and arrogant, bacteria must be like bacteria.
2007-07-31 04:05:33 · answer #10 · answered by Jameskan Video 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋