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guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)82. How much of what happens in the brain relates to automatic functions?
You do not control most of what your body does, but this is irrelevant to the concept of free will. A far better explanation than I could do is here:
These arguments leave untouched the meaning of free will that most people understand, which is consciously making choices about what to do in the absence of external coercion, and accepting responsibility for ones actions. Hardly anyone denies that people engage in logical reasoning and self-control to make choices. There is a genuine psychological reality behind the idea of free will. The debate is merely about whether this reality deserves to be called free will. Setting aside the semantic debate, lets try to understand what that underlying reality is.
There is no need to insist that free will is some kind of magical violation of causality. Free will is just another kind of cause. The causal process by which a person decides whether to marry is simply different from the processes that cause balls to roll downhill, ice to melt in the hot sun, a magnet to attract nails, or a stock price to rise and fall.
There is no need to insist that free will is some kind of magical violation of causality. Free will is just another kind of cause. The causal process by which a person decides whether to marry is simply different from the processes that cause balls to roll downhill, ice to melt in the hot sun, a magnet to attract nails, or a stock price to rise and fall.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/09/free_will_debate_what_does_free_will_mean_and_how_did_it_evolve.html
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A whole arm, leg, branch of theology is dedicated to understanding your question
TexasProgresive
Aug 2016
#2
Those are great questions that should be asked. Religion isn't going to answer them though.
cleanhippie
Aug 2016
#11
The most sophisticated believers realized the inherent contradiction in this long ago...
trotsky
Aug 2016
#7
Is it also "reasonable to assume" that since we are told that suffering is a necessary consequence..
trotsky
Aug 2016
#46
Still doesn't explain a universe full of suffering that is mostly incompatible...
Humanist_Activist
Aug 2016
#40
Well, "free will" really does become a matter of faith for Christians, since...
trotsky
Aug 2016
#90
Artificial intelligence hasn't advanced with the ability to write what I write,
cpwm17
Aug 2016
#100
Being an asshole, God placed the Tree of Knowledge where he knew Adam would eat
immoderate
Aug 2016
#20
I've wondered why this all-knowing God didn't know enough to create a female counterpart
bulloney
Aug 2016
#29
That seems to be a stretch, particularly since, technically, female is the "default" for...
Humanist_Activist
Aug 2016
#41
Since there is no obvious other candidate world to compare to this world,
struggle4progress
Aug 2016
#44