(October 12, 2015 at 4:54 pm)lkingpinl Wrote: For sure it's speculative and there has been loads of research in neuroscience that is truly fascinating. Quick question:
Do you think you chose to write your post? Or was it the result of the physical structure of your brain and the level of hormones/chemicals at the time your brain processed the text in which you felt compelled to respond?
I'm always intrigued by the reductionist point of view that everything is explainable when reduced, or that bottom up explanation if you will. In most cases, it's true but not all.
All I know is that the only thing I can say for certain is that it feels like I chose to write that post. The other thing I can say is that the more we research and understand the brain, the less control we have to appear over who we are and what we do. That's not to say we can conclude one way or the other, but it leads me to believe that the reductionist point of view is more likely.
My experience with depression and other mental issues also leads me to believe that we are beholden to our brain structure more than we like to think, if not entirely. Sure, there may be a piece of us sitting somewhere among our subconscious impulses and chemically-determined moods that is free, but if I were a betting man, I wouldn't lay my money on it.
