(December 22, 2016 at 12:11 pm)operator Wrote:(December 22, 2016 at 11:54 am)robvalue Wrote: Strangely enough, science is showing more and more that free will is bollocks. If it's eventually shown everything is purely deterministic, it would in theory be possible for an external being to "know" the future, simply by calculation.
But most religious people require us to have genuine choices so that God has something to judge and isn't simply assessing robots he set in motion. This logically knows out procognition/fate, and I don't know why they cling to it so tightly. What difference does that make? Why can't God just not know? Would that make it suddenly unworthy of worship? I think it would make God more likeable.
In what way is free will bollocks? In the sense that we are constrained by physical limitations in our brains and bodies? Sure, many, if not all, of our decisions are the result of cause and effect and of certain conditions we have no control over. Does that mean we never make our own decisions? Or that we are not responsible for anything we do? Did Sam Harris not choose to become an author or a neuroscientist?
Are fat people destined to overeat forever? Are criminals destined to commit crimes forever? I'm just not sure how far we can really take this determinism thing.
Edit: Basically... while I'm willing to admit that our scope of conscious decision is probably much smaller than we think it is... I don't think it's fair to say "free will is bollocks"... though I suppose it depends on what your definition of free will is.
And yes I believe a theist admitting to either fate or free will being a lie would completely crumble their idea of an all-powerful, all-knowing or all-loving god.
I don't think is is clear that the mind is not more than the sum of its parts. My understanding is that scientist don't know how this works. Does anyone have any information to the contrary?
