Free will

Caporegime
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Of course, I think the better question would be, do you believe you don't have free will and why?
We had this in another thread.

1) Conscious mind intrinsically linked to physical brain.
2) Physical brain subject to laws of physics/reality.

It is currently unknown if the laws of reality allow for genuinely indeterminate outcomes. Or if everything happening in your brain is 100% predictable (not now/tomorrow/this century, but predictable in theory).

If everything in your brain follows a deterministic, pre-defined pattern then you have no free will. You are just a watch. Wind you up and watch you go!
 
Soldato
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Manchester, UK
I think compared to 99.9% of the world population, I have more free will than most.

I don't necessarily want to have absolute free will as that then means all the idiots have it too...which seems more dangerous than how we are now.
 
Soldato
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10,555
You can pay a solicitor if you want, but plenty or organisations (such as trade unions and some banks and even charities) offer a free will service.
 
Caporegime
Joined
17 Feb 2006
Posts
29,263
Location
Cornwall
WHSmith do wills, £20 though so not free.

In all seriousness, does it really matter? If free will is an illusion of a chaotic but determinate universe, what does this knowledge change?
For one, it would entirely nullify the concept of "regret".

You may regret saying something that went down poorly, but you didn't say it because you wanted to - you said it because a 100% deterministic universe gave you no other option.

So it would change our outlook quite a bit I'd say.
 
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