Again. And again. And again
Originally posted by Skyfloating
So, without providing links to "scientific authorities", explain to me in your own words...once again...how it is that I dont have choice and dont
excersise choice.
I explained the
reasoning in the early post titled 'And Again'.
I explained how the findings of neuroscience
support the reasoning in my long post on -- I think -- Page Five. See the bullet points, which
contain no links but merely summarize the conclusions with reference to the data.
In that post I also quoted you a paragraph of Hobbes in which he anticipates the findings of modern neuroscience with uncanny insight.
Seventeenth-century English is not always easy to decipher, but Hobbes is lucid and has the advantage of speaking in simple terms, of 'nerves' and
'strings' and 'pressures' rather in than the jargon on modern neuroscience.
How much more explanation could you possibly want?
And also how it would be closer to the truth not to use the word "I" in my vocabulary anymore.
As you may have noticed, I have no difficulty whatsoever in making use of that word. The entity I am is real. It needs to be identified to others for
practical reasons, and existing words do fine.
Look, I'm not trying to say you don't exist. Look back through my posts and see if you can find a single place where I say consciousness is
nonexistent. It is the sense of
self that is an illusion, and when I say 'self' in this context I mean
an independent causal agent, an
entity that is able to institute processes of cause and effect -- to act -- without its actions being determined by any prior cause. That is what you
mean when you say you have free choice, that you exercise free will.
A human being is not that kind of actor. Our scope is limited by our genetic inheritance, upbringing, personal history and momentary circumstances,
said circumstances including, naturally, the presence and actions of other people. There is no way in which we could act free of these determinants.
To do so would be to act randomly, without purpose.
There now, I've explained it
three times.
Tell me how this knowledge improves my day-to-day experience.
I don't know enough about you for that. But if you'd taken more time with the links than the few minutes it took to bolster your preconceptions, you
might have picked up a few hints.
