RE: Do you believe in free will?
March 13, 2012 at 11:07 am
(This post was last modified: March 13, 2012 at 11:15 am by The Grand Nudger.)
I think you might be reading more into determinism than what we know about it. See, I don't "know" anything about free will except that I have never seen it demonstrated (and that this lack of demonstration is completely void in the world, it being a subject largely relegated to philosophy, and not experiment)..which is precisely why I am skeptical of anyone who makes claims to knowledge of the existence of "free will". What I do know, is that our behavior very much appears to be an effect of biochemistry, which appears to be a very deterministic process (even though we cant always predict the results in every particular). What I do know, is that the arguments presented thusfar, and here on these forums, have not found a way to escape these sorts of determinism for which we do have evidence. It may very well be that free will does exist, as described, but I have trouble accepting that it does on the grounds of the explanations offered. In the end, this is just a conversation, exploring our own thoughts and the thoughts of others. Flexing the noodle, if you will. Use it or lose it, right? While you may feel that we are discussing something unfalsifiable, I do not. I am only approaching this from the angle of what is falsifiable, what has been experimented upon, what has or has not been demonstrated. I do not assume that there is anything more to us than what we can demonstrate (there may be, but if I start assuming this then why not assume other, equally undemonstrated or undemonstrable things?).
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!