Quote:
Originally posted by oktjabr
I'm personally very much against such thought (mostly in a weberian sense, if you know what I mean). I mean, if free will doesn't exist, how can I be able to do something completely random (if you don't count things like gravity etc. as physical laws restricting us, because surely they do restrict us, but that is not what I mean). If I see it correct, fate would mean that everything would be causal.
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Let me explain further. Our conciousness is, when you break it down, a set of chemical and electrical reactions. For instance, if you see a rose, the light enters our eye, strikes the optic nerve, which sends an impulse to our brain, which then makes a decision to reach out and grasp this rose. All those actions are governed by phsyical properties. All of these actions are behaving just as they would outside our bodies.
The problem with this is that the whole system is extremely complex. More complex than anything humans will ever be able to grasp. This complexity gives the appearance of randomness. In fact, its so complex that two of the same actions may never happen twice, and thats why whe cant find a causal pattern. So, while you may think you are doing something completely random, perhaps that action was "fated" by those tiny switches flicking on and off.
If you follow me so far, the real interesting part is "free will" itself. Your argument may be that "well, if all is destined, then i can lay down and whatever happens happens--its fate." The idea of free will keeps us going. So, If we are here by our own choices, we have the opportunity to change them. It gives us hope.
Atleast thats my opinion. There are certainly other points and examples that could counter my arguement, but in all truth, there is no answer to this question. Free will vs. Determinism debate has been going on for as long as humanity has been around.
I think what a lot fail to realize is that believing in determinism or fate is not bleak. I'm just saying that we may, as humans, be under the illusion that we have control of our actions/thoughts/behavior.
Throw religion/spirituality into this mix, and you've got a whole new debate.