How much does free will have to do with your situation?

Do you have the will to think as you want or are you a victim of brainwashing? Do you think for yourself or do you believe what you have been told?

Funny you should ask. Since I became a full-fledged athieist and since I do view the human brain as a functioning piece of machinery, and since I believe tha tthe brain, (along with influences from the endocrine system and other environmental factors) is the sole driver of all human behavior. . . .
I seriously question if "free will" may be just an illusion.

That's about as far as I'm willing to go. The implications are rather terrifying, and I am a coward.

I believe nothing I've been told, it's all lies.

Well, most of it. But yeah, I think for myself; that's part of my problem. Most people like sheeple, not independent thinkers.

Haha...I have always been headstrong! Def. a free thinker and don't believe much of what I am told :) It's gotten me in trouble enough, but makes me a great scientist!


LeighAnna...consider college and a graduate program...they love free thinkers and you get to push the boundaries of what is known to create new knowledge...it's the best job ever for the independent thinkers :)

Are you absolutely sure? For all we know, we may all be the stars of our own Truman Shows where everyone, including the producers of the show, may be only automatons playing their mechanically determined roles in some giant natural farce.

LOL...I can't go chasing theories like this right now artlo

Artlo, I am with firefly here... no disrespect, but it's hard enough to keep order and sanity without having to worry other screamingly frightening stuff that exists totally l'art pour l'art, like what if reality is a pissbowl and we are fishes in it.

Please... let's keep to the probable. We all know that it's impossible to know anything tangible in the world for 100% certainty, but I think that's no licence to go off on completely imaginary tangents. Just my preference, do as you wish, please.

Of course I am just voicing my preference... you scare yourself the way you like. I, personally, can't afford a diaper service, so I like to live a mostly unfrightened life.

I have a mind of my own, been brought up to think for myself, be a free-spirit, stand up for what I think is right, that sorta thing.

I think our lives are a mixture of automated response programming and our conscious will.

We can drive to our job every day via the same route and not even think about it. That is automatic programing that we created ourselves. We can change that at will, but it will take conscious attention to do so. It will require the effort of making a decision to go via a different route.

Some of our automatic programing includes how our body works; breathing, Heartbeat etc. Other automatic programing are things we do every day. Where we lay our keys, etc.

If we have developed habits, those will become automatic after practiced. We program ourselves.

It has been proven that a man can even control his heartbeat with the right concentration. Certain muscles can be controlled by some people if they train themselves to do it. (Belly rolls of a belly dancer, looking in two different directions with your eyes, etc.)

Yes, we have free will; but we can, if we are lazy, simply follow our automatic programming and we can, if we are lazy, allow other people to program us.

We are the programmers. We are the decider's. At least we are given the capacity to decide and to be conscious. We can be lazy and let it be done automatically if we want.

It really does take energy to think and create and make decisions. It takes focus and energy to change our bad habits and develop new good habits.

It takes energy and determination to take control and take responsibility for your life. If you just drift along and let everyone else do it for you, there is no telling where you will end up.

The human brain is in fact a functioning piece of machinery. But let me ask you something artio.. who operates your machinery? Who programs it? Who makes the decisions?

Or are you just going along for the ride?

Do you take responsibility for your decisions? If you think you are the victim of influences then how can you possibly feel responsible for anything?

If the machine of your brain is the sole driver of your life, then you are just a robot and you cannot be held responsible for your actions at all. Find your programmer. It dwells within you somewhere.

Put on you scientist cap, Jeannie. Wht is the natute of this "free will"? How does it work? What neural activity starts the ball rolling in the making of a decision? How ar idas formed in a physical sense? do we really create new ideas, or do we just re-arrange the elements of old ideas that came before? Is there such a thing as "creativity", or is that an illusion?

Don't you wonder just a little bit?

Nope I don't wonder about that at all. I know we have the capacity for using our conscious will.

It is called consciousness.

We aren't simply spectators in this world. We are the creators.

It is alright to put on a scientist cap Artio, but not at the expense of your thinking cap. The scientist's simply observe. The thinker thinks.



Oh that's the big question isn't is? It is not neural activity of the brain. The brain is simply a biological machine. It cannot actually think on its own. They saved Einstein's brain after he died, but Einstein has not had a thought since.

OKfine. There's no law that says you have to ask the questions.

Dunno. Why does there have to be an operator. Aren't the natural laws of the universe and the properties of all matter enough to determine how events are going to occur?

It's not a matter of how I would like reality to be. Life is more predictable and manageable in a world where free will exists. We all live out lives as though this is the case. But that doesn't make it necessarily so.

I feel really sad for you if that is the way you actually feel. I would recommend, very strongly, that you focus on your breath. Just do some easy breathing exercises and focus your attention on your breath.

If you have no real inner joy in your life, try that and see what happens. Seriously.

I would start (surprise) with what miriam webster has to say about will

:a : mental powers manifested as wishing, choosing, desiring, or intending b : a disposition to act according to principles or ends c : the collective desire of a group <the will of the people>
5: the power of control over one's own actions or emotions



I do have control over my own actions just by virtue of being able to choose no ACTION at all, I dont necessarily have the same control over my emotions but I can, through repetition and consistency, teach myself to CONTROL my emotions and I certainly have control over how I act upon or allow my emotions to manifest
I have been raised there are always choices, and thats what I think of when I think of free will, freedom to DECIDE for ourself. Our environment and circumstance definitely affect what choices we have, but we always have them and can therefore use our WILL to decide between them.

I already have a master's degree, but I do need another one. I'm just not sure what to major in this time.

Jeez Jeannie. You're getting a little nasty and condescending. I just don't think that's necessary. didn't mean to jangle your sensitivities. Just asking the questions. I'll leave you all, now.

Artio where on earth do you think I have been nasty and condescending??? I have done no such thing. I am very serious and I am asking you some serious and sincere questions.

I am sorry you have misinterpreted it as condescending. Please tell me how you did that? What did I say do you feel is condescending to you?

No. The natural laws are not enough. If your brain is a machine, there has to be an operator.

Thought is required. Consciousness is required. A conscious thinker is required, not just a machine.