You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

Re:You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it by Kbelicius on Thursday April 25, 2024 @04:30AM (#40154935)

> Typing out such a long rambling reply was itself a choice.

First sentence GP wrote is: "Choosing is not free will.". Did you choose to ignore what GP wrote when writing your reply?

Free will isn't about making choices, at least not according to any definition I've heard. After all, it is obvious that in some way we do make choices. As far as my understanding goes free will is, depending on the definition, either about choosing differently when all else is equal or not having a gun pointed at your head when making a choice.

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Re:You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it by piloto_ciego on Thursday April 25, 2024 @11:18AM (#40158601)

Free will is absolutely largely about making choices. That’s not all of it, but denying that is silly, it’s goal post shifting from the ones who don’t believe in it.

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Re:You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it by Kbelicius on Friday April 26, 2024 @04:43AM (#40167157)

> Free will is absolutely largely about making choices.

Free will largely isn't about making choices or having choices. It is largely about how/why we make choices.

Bacteria can move, thus bacteria have a choice of direction in which to move. Bacteria move, so it is making a choice.

If GP has free will just because they made a choice to write a reply to you, as you claim, then it must follow that bacteria also have free will. Am I wrong or do you think that bacteria have free will?

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Re:You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it by piloto_ciego on Saturday April 27, 2024 @11:43AM (#40180818)

Responding to stimuli with a reflex is not a choice.

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Re:You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it by Kbelicius on Monday April 29, 2024 @08:11AM (#40197279)

That just sounds like an arbitrary difference. What is the difference between a reflex action and choice action? Do animals have free will?

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Re:You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it by piloto_ciego on Monday May 13, 2024 @01:13AM (#40340003)

Some animals certainly do. They’re not necessarily bound by our morality by any stretch of the imagination, but absolute some animals likely have free will.

As for reflex versus choice, if someone hits my knee just right my legs going to kick out. If someone pushes in the same spot and says “kick your leg out” and I don’t want to, I don’t have to.

There may be constraints on that, obviously at gun point I’m going to, but yah, if you’re able to think about then choose to do something or not do something that seems qualitatively different than a reflex.

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