[Tando]

Free Will?

The Semantics of Free Will
The meaning of a word, phrase, sentence, or text



To clarify, free will in the profound philosophical sense, is that we consciously author (without constraint or dependence of anything else) our actions, thoughts, desires, feelings, decisions, choices, and everything contained in the mind. The notion that we are ultimately the causal agents of the aforementioned. I assert that consciousness is not some form of inseparable matter, rather, it is the end product of a series of events happening in our brain that gives us this result. We are not truly the conscious authors of the aforementioned, rather, everything is predicated by unconscious events in which have no conscious causal agent.

Our thoughts/actions/desires/choices/decisions/feelings are all determined by the context of our environment and our genetic code.

It's simple to understand, and if you are misinterpreting the definition now, you will probably have your idea of free will amended as you read.

The Predecessors of Conscious Awareness/Choices/Decisions/Feelings/etc

If I were to ask you to lift up any finger, which one would you choose? Regardless of what you choose, your conscious choice would be predicated/followed by a long chain of unconscious electrochemical activity that is traceable prior to your "conscious intention" of the action. Milliseconds or even seconds before you consciously decide to do something, neuroscientists can predict what you were going to "consciously decide" by taking into account motor genesis and readiness potential.

The experiment, here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscienc...rpretation



That Doesn't Explain 'thoughts' Though, But Think About It

Analysing the initialization of motor genesis and readiness potential is evidence that disqualifies the 'free will' (conscious authoring of physical events) for movement, according to Masao Matsuhashi and Mark Hallet. "They conclude that a person's awareness cannot be the cause of movement, and may instead only notice the movement."

But what about thoughts? Philosopher Alfred Mele suggests that the evidence for lack of volition in motor choices (choices that involve movement, don't want you to think I'm talking about vehicle motors) isn't evidence for thoughts.

"If you pay attention, you can see that you no more author the next thing you think, than the next thing I say. Thoughts simply appear in consciousness. What are you going to think next? What am I going to say next? I can suddenly start talking about why we don't eat owls. Why don't we eat owls? They seem perfectly good.

Where did that come from? It came out of no where as far as you're concerned, but the same thing is happening in your mind at this moment. Now you're trying to listen to me but you also have a voice in your head that says things, it says things that are completely unconstrained by the thing you're trying to focus on. I'm trying to reason with you, and you will think 'he does look a little like Ben Stiller.'

Thoughts just emerge in consciousness, we are not authoring them. That would require that we think them before we think them. If you can't control your next thought and you don't know what it'll be until it arises, where is your freedom of will?"" - Sam Harris in this video at 13:40 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih6f-0T2Ow0.

If we were the authors of our thoughts, it would be required that we thought them before we thought them, a conscious predecessor to a conscious predecessor, which requires more electrochemical activity to follow it. They simply appear in our consciousness.

Nullifying Blame/Rendering Blame Unjustified - Increasing Compassion

If thoughts, feelings, actions and everything we agents are aware of are predicated beforehand, thus meaning there was only one inescapable determined outcome, where is your justifiable foundation for blame?

If a psychopathic serial killer had the free will not to commit various murders but didn't (the choice to not to, again, predicated by unconscious physical predecessors), you would consider this person malevolent and deserving of some sort of punishment. This is not the case. They are to be considered as a victim of biology (it wasn't their fault that they were materialized/structured in such a way) that was predetermined to act such a way in the context/influence of their environment.

If they are dangerous, they still need to be locked away regardless of the cause, but you would have a sense of compassion for them at some later time after you've coped with your disagreement/disgust of their actions/thoughts.

I Feel Free Though

This is true, meaning that all of your thoughts, actions, desires, choices are aligned with what you want and you feel happy with everything that the electrochemical activity in your brain concocts for you.

However, these wants and feelings are also the sum of unconscious physical events.

That goes to assert what Sam Harris says in his book "Free Will":

"Compatibilism amounts to nothing more than an assertion of the following creed: A puppet is free as long as he loves his strings."

If you love, agree and are comfortable with the choices made, then 'not having real free will' doesn't feel restrictive, therefore making it not a problem. This doesn't validate free will though, it only asserts the analogy 'a puppet is free as long as he loves his strings.'

"Your Unconscious Processes Are Just As Much You, As Your Conscious is"

Your organs are making choices/decisions that you aren't conscious of, yet they are part of you. You do not have any assertion of free will upon the actions of your organs, you do not feel responsible, in the same way that you don't have any conscious assertion on the activity that follows your conscious decisions in your brain.

Theological Implications

The notion of sin is now impractical, as well as God exacting of punishment for it. God would have created individuals that were prone/biologically hardwired to act in certain ways (sometimes sinful) and would be directing them to hell, it is a useless exercise to do so.

Final Words

Not having free will underpins that we are not separate from others, and that we and our environment are linked together as a system. We are conscious beings that have our actions/thoughts determined by physical unconscious factors, all predicated by the same system as others.

I'll leave you with this last quote from Sam Harris that sums up everything nicely.

"The idea that we're deeply responsible for the characters
of our minds simply cant be mapped onto reality."

--SOURCES--
*Everything written has been cited upon insertion, everything unquoted is written from my own words as an interpretation of what has been asserted from the sources provided.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_of_free_will
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih6f-0T2Ow0

[Sunlight]

Your final words are very true. Free will.

[Wonders]

Damn this is an epic thread, nice work Tando!

Reading over it now and will post my comments.

[Lithium]

I think true free will is an illusion.

[Cosmic]

Amazing thread Tando. Awesome work.

[Tando]

Thanks for the feedback, :grin:

[Corey ☁]

Damn what a nice thread, 100% true as well.

Respect earned Tando, Respect earned.