What do you think about this issue? Are we slaves to the biology of our brain? Or do we truly have the capability of taking control of our thoughts. It feels like we can control it, but I’m not sure if that’s an illusion either. What do you think about this age old debate?
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We have no choice but to live. We are slaves forever and a day.
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There are some pretty clever manipulators out here. Free will is good, but not always possible.
Slaves to the current culture or world we live in depending on what is currently happening and few people can see beyond that it seems which is why i think schizophrenics are so awesome in our turbulent lives because some of us see further than most normies do and that gives us powers to appreciate more
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This is definitely a complex question posed by philosophy. We may never understand the truth behind it
Real. But hard to define or put into words.
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If you have the will then anything can be at fingertips. And that’s free…
I think Free Will is possible, but most people live the majority of their lives on autopilot
I think we have free will under the constraints of laws, social mores, and personal morality and responsibility.
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I think “Free Willy” was an illusion, not free will.
Sam Harris has a lot of videos essentially disproving free will with logic. He convinced me. I currently don’t believe in it.
I think we are machines to an extent, guided by our genetic makeup.
It is the genes that are selfish, and we are slaves to them. But, by reasoning and thinking, and learning, we can make choices which are incongruent with what our genes would make us do. In other words, we are just carrying the selfish genes which want to propagate themselves, but having a brain means that we can exercise self-control, and avoid the inevitable outcome that the genes have set forth for us.
Interestingly, however, our experiences and our learning and thinking are a direct consequence of the physics, socioeconomics, and social mores that are decided by where and how we grow up. It depends on external factors, thus I am not sure we have any choice, at all!
I can’t control my voices, but I have some control over what I say and do. However if the voices give me the wrong information and I am unable to obtain the truth of the matter then what I say and do can be affected by them. When I take my meds that is less likely to happen due to fewer voices and better impulse control.
I believe in free will
I sometimes wonder about my own consciousness. It seems like pure biology cannot create the consciousness I have in my brain, but I know my consciousness can be altered greatly by psychotropic drugs. I’ve heard that there are signs of consciousness in some of the artificial intelligence they’ve created.
I will elucidate further with an example.
My brother brought a cake today which looks really good. The genes are saying go for it and devour it. The brain says no, it is going to make me gain weight. Now the genes and the brain are in a state of war with each other. The brain is re-evaluating its decision and eventually I know I will succumb to the genes. The genes are so selfish.
Free will is being able to go anywhere in the galaxy or Universe.
We are trapped on this rock and have to work, or conform to societal norms. I can’t even travel around the world…
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