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12-11-2003, 06:06 PM
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#41 |
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The Dread Pirate
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Where the wild things are
Posts: 1,310
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(Going back to something that was said, I think)
Answer this: Read the post on the thread. Examine the language, diction, opinion and synatx of each poster. Examine the font type, the avatars, the page layout. Read the intracacies of each post, feel the emotion of them, John Courage's fiery righteousness as explains his point, Mog's lofty confidence as he strikes down his opponents, Krylo's cool logic interjected periodically. Then tell me, that every thought, every nuance, every polysyllabic pondering on this four page thread is the result of randomly firing neurons, or some product of the changing universe. You tell me that fate concocted every aspect of the discussion of itself. Then ask yourself if you believe it.
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Man, n. An animal so lost in rapturous contemplation of what he thinks he is as to overlook what he indubitably ought to be. His chief occupation is the extermination of other animals and his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole habitable earth and Canada. -Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary |
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12-11-2003, 11:00 PM
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#42 | |
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Guest
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Quote:
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12-11-2003, 11:18 PM
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#43 | |
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Shotokan Master
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 529
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Quote:
little neurons are just the start. everything, from the neurons, to the atoms that make the neurons, to the subatomic particles that make up the atom to the particles that make up those particles are said to have a totally defined path in macroscopic relevance. that means that not only did your neuron fire, but IT HAD to fire, and more so, you HAVE to exist, and this world was FORCED to be made. if you want to be even more anal about it, you can use the fact that we actually have a past as proof for the no free will thing. "free will" is limited by a whole slew of things... for one, there's a dictum that "there is no such thing as imagination" and i pretty much think that its true. go ahead and imagine something new.. completely new. like right now. you can't. everything is linked to something else you've seen before. if that's so, then free will is contained in what you've experienced. furthurmore, it means that all creativity has to contained in the reason for the existance of the universe. taken even deeper, that means that since the past does not change, there can be only one road through life, and at the end of that road, the entire sequence of events that created it becomes absolute and untouchable. frankly, i think that we're pretty hung up on the fact that our "precious" lives can be explained as something less than precious, and perhaps ultimately expendable instead. that sorta shoots all morality down the drain and scares a lot of people, but there's no possible way to logically disprove it unless you invoke some wacky property of the mind which can be explained via chemistry and physics in the end. |
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12-12-2003, 06:16 PM
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#44 |
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The Dread Pirate
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Where the wild things are
Posts: 1,310
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Free will is a choice, Lucas, when it comes down to it. If you want to exempt yourself from all responsibility by saying that fate rules your life, very well. Enjoy the pitiful remainder of your nihilistic life. I, however, have free will, because I have decided that I do. I have the freedom to choose, to direct those electrons, to imagine completely original things because I have free will. How can "fate" or these ambiguous random neurons explain away the complexity of human existence. They can't. If you really believe what you write Lucas, then you are simply a tool of fate. Are you okay with that? All realistic considerations aside, can you so nonchalantly dismiss your individuality? I can't.
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Man, n. An animal so lost in rapturous contemplation of what he thinks he is as to overlook what he indubitably ought to be. His chief occupation is the extermination of other animals and his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole habitable earth and Canada. -Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary |
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12-12-2003, 07:20 PM
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#45 |
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Guest
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Fate is impractical. I have made my case as to the existence of "free will" many times, and the true stance comes down to there is a balance. I might put down on this board some time I am exemptionally bored. go read "Saint Augustine: Confessions". He happens to hold the same opinion* as me, despite my making my theory before ever reading him.
*and by opinion, I mean fact :P Last edited by 395; 12-12-2003 at 07:27 PM. |
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