Does anyone here ever ask the question "are we really free"?
GeneralThis forum is for non-technical general discussion which can include both Linux and non-Linux topics. Have fun!
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
View Poll Results: Do you argue with yourself about free will?
No, I believe that we are immensely complex machines, and that free will is an illusion.
4
14.81%
No, I believe that we have free will, and that not all of our decisions are determined by physics.
6
22.22%
Yes, I drive myself insane over this every day...
3
11.11%
I sometimes wonder about it, but I don't think about it too much.
existential angst (which I think describes the topic) is relatively common at 18
Great...so I'm just another sheeple no matter what...I'm just a machine after all.
Apparently existential angst is just another fixed state within it...there's no escaping the machine.
Quote:
You'll figure it out, hopefully.
Well, at least you used the word "hopefully", rather than "eventually", which is suggestive of predestination (at least in my eyes, anymore ).
EDIT: I *am* somewhat "spiritual" (if you want to call it that), and I have some hopes that many of you here would probably think I'm crazy for having, so I won't share them here.
But, a) I fear that I'm only "spiritual" because my mom is (she's really against any fixed "religion"), and b) There are so many things about "spiritualism" that I don't agree with, and yet if I don't agree with them, I feel I must be agreeing with predestination/determinism! It's either one or the other!
Either I dump my computer/Linux interest to become more "spiritual", or I go mentally insane over the whole "are we free?" business...or is there a third choice?
Well, you seem to have allowed a few people to convince you that determinism is the answer. Are you that easily led? You want to believe in free will, SO DO IT.
For the third time, you haven't answered my questions. Please do so.
Q: "Why do you obsess over this whole predestination thing if you can't find the answer?"
A: I'm afraid that someone, somewhere (or many someones) has actually found the answer, and that it's that determinism wins out...but I'm afraid to go out and look it up, because I don't want to actually find that I was right! You could say that I'm just pessimistic in that regard, though...
Q: "Even if you found the answer, what would you do to change it?"
A: I really don't know. I've sworn that I wouldn't kill myself, though, so that option is out...maybe I would just stop living; not suicide, just kind of *stopping*.
I probably sound really quite insane now, don't I? I'm actually a cool-headed person most of the time, it's just when I get on this predestination kick that I get frustrated, angry, and upset at both myself and others.
...although, I suppose the "internet filter" (the fact that we're communicating through text rather than verbally) doesn't help with convincing people of that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by brianL
Well, you seem to have allowed a few people to convince you that determinism is the answer.
That's reacting to the environment (reading the book), and responding based on my brain's structure ("cheer[ing] [me] up").
The problem is, the determinists' arguments make perfect sense to me, and yet they devastate me on the inside!
Perhaps I haven't gained enough perspective, and just need to see things from a true free-will-believer's point of view to really be able to decide for myself what is the truth?
Frankly, I don't give two ****s for the free will vs determinism argument, or any other philosophical woffling. If you think it's a valid excuse for self-pity and whining, you need to meet people who have really suffered, who have genuine cause to feel depressed.
I'm off to watch "A Clockwork Orange", haven't seen it for ages. Perhaps aversion therapy could help you?
Either I dump my computer/Linux interest to become more "spiritual", or I go mentally insane over the whole "are we free?" business...or is there a third choice?
Well, clearly from the posts here, there are some of us who are "spiritual" or who are believers or have faith and yet we still seem to enjoy computers and Linux. So it's a bit of a false dichotomy you've presented yourself with.
If we're recommending reading, not as reacting to the environment, but to discover how others have thought about things so that you can decide for yourself in a better informed manner, then perhaps Immanuel Kant.
Or there's brianL's suggestion for a bit of viddy with the moloko and ultraviolence. Of course, don't forget, the answer is D.
Last edited by mostlyharmless; 08-13-2010 at 05:26 PM.
How can you hold any ideals if everything is predestined? Why not just calculate a best estimate of what will happen? After all, we're just machines, and as such our behavior can be clearly predicted...
Even if the universe is theoretically deterministic, that doesn't mean there is anybody who can actually make any useful predictions. After all you need information on every particle in the universe, and since your brain is smaller than the universe...
Also I'm still interested in answers to my previous questions (from anybody who believes in souls, not just MrCode).
Sounds like a good list for the next poll in General.
On topic, existential angst (which I think describes the topic) is relatively common at 18 and usually cured in college with reading philosophy and drinking beer.
You'll figure it out, hopefully.
how would you know which state life exists in? once you have this knowledge, what will you do to change it? a follow up to that - does it need to be changed?
"I don't understand this: if your decisions are determined by something that is not physics, how does that give you free will? What makes something 'not physics'?
Suppose you have a 'soul' in which your decisions/thoughts originate, does that mean you are free, or are you 'controlled' by your 'soul'?"
Q: Is Zero Point Energy (ZPE) 'not physics?' Hardly -- http://www.calphysics.org/zpe.html Does ZPE give one free will? No, we inherently have the ability to choose between pairs of opposites (AKA "free will") and it's a given.
The idea of an eternal 'soul' was popularized by Plato and originated in ancient Babylon, acording to some; others say with another, pre-Platonic philosopher (I forget his name). See the last site citation for Religion vs. Spirituality. An "eternal soul" is nonsense and a thing of mankind's religions, not Truth.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.