Okay, so what's your objection?... I'm confused lol. All action, whether it's actuated by Reason or impulse, is for the sole purpose of appeasing the will.
If I'm reading these comments correctly, his objection is probably because of this scentence you wrote. "If free will is prevalent in the world, wouldn't the world be a much more reasonable place?" You're saying if free will exists, the world would be more reasonable place. He's saying if free will exists, the world wouldn't necessarily be any more reasonable than had there been no free will. Correct?
Yeah...looks like I'm not fully comprehending your position on the matter. I guess I could start this back up on monday...but till then I'll be quite busy. So I'm out.
Oh okay, now I see... By that I meant - "free will" implies a world regulated by the mental, without it being influenced and tainted by the physical; human beings can never be liberated - we have a cohered reality (mind & body), free from our intrinsic drive to live. All our actions are manifested in order to enhance the subject's reality, whether directly or vicariously. So, we are obligated to abide by the regulations of "the will". If "free will" existed... we would be a world of selfless people, because we could shun the incessant will to live, and cause our actions to be Reasonable - empathetic and logical, and not impulsive and emotional.
What are you philosophical about? I'm philosophical about golf and photography. -- What does it mean, to be 'philosophycal about'? I think to be 'philosophical about' something means that you think a lot about that something. Like golf. I think a lot about golf. And photography. I think a lot about photography. I also think a lot about sex. So does that mean I'm philosophical about sex? I think yes.
If you think about the things that you're philosophical about, then you'll see that those things are the things you think the most about. And if you think about the things that you're not so philosophical about, you'll see that those things are the things that you don't really think about. So philosophy is just another word for 'thought'. -- You can say, "I like philosophy." Or you can say, "I like thought." Which one sounds better? I think the first one... So I guess I'll just have to accept the word 'philosophy' because it sounds better... although having this word means I have to memorize one more word.
Here's a philosophy for ya... Are we all up to date on materialism? That all things are things, and that there are no things which are not things. And that all things are subject to causation and thereby are set to act in succession in a predicable manner. And how about time theory, where the future is a dimensional location, as is the past. I could get into a space ship and travel at a ridiculously high speed and due to the physics of our universe when I arrive back at earth I am actually arriving in the future while aging very little myself. Materialism and causality leave no room for free-choice, we are made of atoms and nothing else. The brain is simply a machine that has been proven to be easily controlled. The laws of this universe allow someone the ability to actually travel into the future faster than you are and be able to look back on the decisions you will make. This means that your decisions, however free they may or may not be, are still intrinsically locked into events in time. The perception of the arrow of time, that one thing happens before another, is a conscious "condition." I think that if we are locked into what we will do in time, one way or another, then what is important to me is to judge my deeds honestly. To admit my failures and short comings and acknowledge the true successes honestly. In other words, to never lie to myself and to try and understand why I make the choices I do. With forgiveness for myself. And if the future exists, and technologically we continue to progress at this exponential rate, then it is possible that in the relatively near future human beings and artificial intelligence have merged. This would give rise to a population of human beings who could, for example, dream the lives of all people in an entire universe - perhaps networked - in just an evening due to the incredible processing power which may be available. Is it not then, from a statistical standpoint, more likely that we are a dream of a highly evolved future version of ourselves? Because we could dream the "present" a countless number of times but the true and real present only happens one time. Just once. It would actually be surprising to be living in the real present than it would be to be part of one of the infinite number of "dreams" about a life in the past which will occur in the future and will be as "real" as this universe is. With regard to what we are learning about space-time on the quantum level it is becoming more and more clear that what all of "this" is, is nothing at all really. Just vibrations of a multidimensional fabric playing out some kind of wonderful orchestra. When I look at life on this planet, and all these things, the concept of what happens to us when we die... I dunno. Maybe when you die you just wake up in the morning in the future, suddenly remembering that you are 300 years old, still genetically human on many levels but enhanced mechanically, perhaps with nanobots. It is matrixy.
i'm philosophical about politics why would that person run? does he know he is coming off crazy? does he even understand his own argument? what an idiot, amiright?
Just because there is causality in our actions/behaviors, doesn't mean we don't have free choice. If I were to go to walgreens for some eye drops, and while in the check out line I see some skittles. I pick them up and purchase them, while the nature of me in walgreens was caused by me wanting to combat red eyes, I ultimately used free choice to buy and consume the skittles. In my opinion free will must coincide with causality, because if our behaviors/actions are not a result of our character, morality, and intuitions how can we be held morally accountable for our actions?
"Today, a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration – that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There's no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we're the imagination of ourselves." -Bill Hicks, 1989 "The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly colored, and it's very loud, and it's fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, "Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, "Hey, don't worry; don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we … kill those people. "Shut him up! I've got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real." It's just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok … But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace." Bill Hicks, 1993
[quote name='"xAceman"'] "Today, a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration – that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There's no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we're the imagination of ourselves." -Bill Hicks, 1989 "The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly colored, and it's very loud, and it's fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, "Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, "Hey, don't worry; don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we … kill those people. "Shut him up! I've got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real." It's just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok … But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace." Bill Hicks, 1993[/quote] Bill was the fuckin man.
I'm so present right now it made me realize that I think simply to occupy my time. The possibilities are endless. The present's inception comes from the perspective of the observer, so whether it's a dream or not is irrelevant.
I understood about 60% of what you said, but I love 100% of it. I love how you started off sounding like a scientist... and became sort of a philosopher... and ended up like a stoner dude.
wasn't born in UH-MER-IKA will post more questions today... you have inspired me to write down all the questions I have during the day edit: i understand these questions do not relate to each other haha is the Earth upside down or right side up? why is America the only one who can use nuclear weapons and then tell others what to do? how does someone even comprehend an idea to develop mathematics? is America's national identity the same as it was in 1776? it is trippy enough that "I" exist, but i could walk around and interaction with 7 billion other "I"s.. does that really make us rare?
just how much of mankind's evolutionary process is still unknown? what if we only understand 2% of the process... An article that instilled that question called "Evidence of 'earliest fire use'" BBC News - Evidence of 'earliest fire use' idk some more articles that might create some thoughts Plastic that heals itself... next Step Terminator T1000 Plastic that heals itself... next Step Terminator T1000 Survey gets a grip on dark energy BBC News - Survey gets a grip on dark energy
what if you didn't see the skittles? What made you look at the skittles? What if they cost $200, would you still have bought them?
[quote name='"G@nja"'] what if you didn't see the skittles? What made you look at the skittles? What if they cost $200, would you still have bought them?[/quote] If I didn't see the skittles then I guess I wouldn't of bought them. Maybe the bright and colorful packaging, or possibly I just turned my head and happen to see them. Let's just assume I could drop $200 on a bag of skittles. All of these do not hinder my free will. Unlike you I do not contrast freedom with causality, but rather constraint. Compulsion, coercion, hypnosis, and physical force are types of constraints I consider to hinder free will. If my friend had turned my head to the skittles, or put them in front of my face and was like "dude get these" then it could be said he coerced me into getting skittles. I do still believe that our past actions and behaviors play a role in our present situation, but still hold that if I have freedom of choice free of constraint, then I can exercise my free will. I mean how else could we be held accountable for our actions if our character, and past actions didn't play a role in our present situations. Sorry if doesn't make any sense. I'm all high from waking and baking after a long night of drinking.