Originally posted by RicoMarston
reply to post by filosophia
ah, but here's the problem; how do you know that when you move your hand, you're doing it all by yourself? Couldn't the very idea of moving your
hand, the phenomenon you use as proof of your own autonomy, have been placed there by an outside actor? by "the dreamer?" We assume that because we
decided to move our hand, the decision was ultimately ours. The cloud drifting by is blown by the wind which is caused by the earth's rotation which
is caused by... see? How do we know that the idea of moving your hand started with you? in your own brain? each and every one of our actions could be
produced by a similar effect to the cloud being blown in the wind. the cloud may think that it is going where it pleases, when it is actually being
strictly controlled by the forces acting upon it.
The dreamer is moving his hand, only the words "hand" "movement" "dreamer" are generic, they could mean anything. If we were speaking spanish,
we would use different words for hand (mano?) but the fact would remain, the dreamer is controlling the hand, regardless of the language spoken. You
see, I can't prove to you that you can move your hand, I only know that I can move my hand. If you can't, I feel sorry for you, but I can move my
hand and I am assuming you can as well. If you can move your hand, at will, and you can pick up things, then it is not just in your mind, but in a
physical reality, but there is a mind, the mind that sees the hand moving, that is self-conscious but also aware intellectually enough to ask, "Am I
really moving the hand?" But the real question is "Did I just ask that question?"
Consciousness is best described by Buddhism as a collection of points of awareness, connected together into what appears as a dream or an illusion,
but the connectivity is the important part to focus on, because otherwise the dreams would be totally random and chaotic. Nothing happens without a
reason behind it: things fall because of gravity, people act out of desires, and countries migrate because of political problems. All these things
have a reason behind them. When you move your hand, it has a reason, either caused by you or some outside influence, a lot of times people are
controlled by an outside influence, but that doesn't mean the will is negated, at best there is a 'war' going on between your will and foreign
influence, influence that affects your sovereignty, but it's still your will. Not everyone has the same will, some people have very limited freedom,
others have great amounts of freedom, some people spend their life in jail but still live a happy life, while others live in mansions but are
miserable with every little thing. Happiness is not material, it is a gift from within, it is knowledge that only the mind and intellect can
comprehend. At best, the hand moves but it means very little to the mind which is immaterial and never moves, and thus never worries if something else
is controlling it.