Have you ever truly loved someone? If so, you have proof of free will. You could have chosen not to. But you did. Love is evidence of free will. It cannot be programmed, coerced or manufactured. Love is freedoms' greatest expression.
Free Will - Does It or Does It Not Exist?
by truth_b_known 52 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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truth_b_known
I am beginning to think that part of the answer comes from understanding what is exactly meant. There needs to be an agreement on what the terminology means. Also, that likes most things, it is not a binary situation.
There is "Strong Free Will" which goes something like -
(a) it is “up to us” what we choose from an array of alternative possibilities, and (b) the origin or source of our choices and actions is in us and not in anyone or anything else over which we have no control.
There is "Hard Determinism" which goes something like -
the history, present state, and future of physical bodies and force fields in the universe, including the physical aspects of mental states. The hypothesis is that every physical state of affairs at any point in time is the causal product of two things: (1) an immediately prior physical state of affairs and (2) the laws of nature. “[D]eterminism” is the thesis that “a complete physical description of the world at a given time, together with a complete description of the laws of nature, entails every truth as to the state of the physical world at later times” - or earlier times, for that matter. If determinism is valid, it means that with sufficient information about the world and sufficient knowledge of the laws of nature, one can both predict the future and derive the past because every physical state of affairs that once existed, now exists or will exist in the future is inexorably dictated by what precedes it.
There are also "soft" versions of each theory.
So, perhaps it is like one person put it (in my own words) -
"In each present moment we are presented with a limited number of deterministic outcomes to chose from."
That is to say, we have some choice, but much has already been determined by prior action.
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Fisherman
Sinful humans and sin is proof that free will exists even among the angels and Jesus.
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Anna Marina
Why does volunteering exist?
Why, when people have the ability to do the washing up to help carry the load of others, do they choose to sit on the sofa and do nothing?
How would this ultimately affect hygiene levels and relationships?
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punkofnice
"A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants." - Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher
Said the man who died alone with his cat.
I started reading about determinism but it was a total word salad. I stopped reading because darn that noise.
I think 'cause and effect' is all I need to know.
There is a question about behaviour, 'is it nature or nurture?' IE, Comes natural or was taught to us.
As far as I can see, our actions are responses and not necessarily pre-programmed. Often I am advised of a certain course of action. However, my responses are often down to money....lack of. Expensive will rather than free will.
.......where am I going with this? I confused myself.
Anyway (anyways with an 's' on the end if you are the other side of the Atlantic to me)....
I still haven't found that rich widow!
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Fisherman
You also have to define what do you mean by free will because a cat does whatever it wants but does that mean it has free will? Actually animals act on instinct but humans can choose whether or not they will obey laws or moral standards.
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LoveUniHateExams
I think that free will exists.
But I also accept that behaviour has a genetic basis and is thus a phenotype which is selected for, or selected against, by natural selection.
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TonusOH
While I find the issue interesting, it also strikes me as kind of moot. If I do or don't have free will, how could I know? Because if I don't, I still exist and make decisions and take action and live my life. If I am unwittingly following a path that I cannot deviate from, how would I know?
Researchers are learning about the human brain all the time, but it's clear they are just starting to understand it. It does seem as if a lot of who we are is trapped in a subconscious that we have very little (if any) access to. So perhaps free will is an illusion. Again, I can't know this. And would I want to live in a world where we just excuse people's behavior because they are "unable to direct themselves"? No. I don't. I prefer to think that I have some say in who I am and what I become.
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Anna Marina
What is the difference between superstition and science?
Why carry out an experiment to assess correctness? And if something is proved correct why choose to go against it? But people do.
And people are superstitious. They can know something is stupid but still do it.
Also WT encourages people to go out on the min. Why did people go?
Why did Jesus say this? Why did he express a warning if people could not choose what they would do?
(Matthew 7:15-20) “Be on the watch for the false prophets that come to you in sheep’s covering, but inside they are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will recognize them. Never do people gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles, do they? Likewise every good tree produces fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces worthless fruit; a good tree cannot bear worthless fruit, neither can a rotten tree produce fine fruit. Every tree not producing fine fruit gets cut down and thrown into the fire. Really, then, by their fruits you will recognize those [men]. . .
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truth_b_known
PunkofNicke: I agree with you. The law of cause and effect certainly has the most to do with things.