RE: Why free will probably does not exist, and why we should stop treating people -
February 8, 2017 at 5:39 pm
(This post was last modified: February 8, 2017 at 5:44 pm by WisdomOfTheTrees.)
Absolutely. Having no free will in a deterministic world doesn't mean that people don't have feelings. In fact, it means that we should be more concerned with other people's feelings. Although, ironically, one may think of the idea of concern for others feelings, as biological machines instead of independent (of the laws of nature, which makes no sense), as a free act in itself; you may see it as you're choosing to think that and make a change. I think of it more in Richard Dawkins sense of a "meme", as I have read in secondary sources which mention this idea from his book "the selfish gene", wherein thoughts are like viruses which spread through each person's mind. When you look at it this way, you can see that once you've been overtaken with the thought, then it becomes a part of your brain. Hence, I am telling you about it right now.
As I said, that doesn't negate the fact that I have feelings. I do, and so do others, and that is why it's important to take the feelings of others into account. Since we live in a world where essentially no one is responsible for their actions, this gives one an almost motherly sense of appreciation for another human being. I do, ironically, find some human beings insufferable, but I do none the less realize the importance of respecting the nature of humanity, which is fundamentally deterministic. This, I agree wholeheartedly with in what Aroura said, regarding the prison system. I cannot under state how badly I feel that our prison system is draconian, barbaric and sadistic. Incarcerating non violent offenders makes no sense, treating prisoners like shit does not condition them for going back into society. In fact, I've heard many ex-prisoners, or prisoners say directly that prison makes you a "better criminal". Of this topic, I could probably make the subject of an entire blog post, but I will keep this frank.
This is a video from the norway prison system which I think is relevant here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39_2DtpnPus
As I said, that doesn't negate the fact that I have feelings. I do, and so do others, and that is why it's important to take the feelings of others into account. Since we live in a world where essentially no one is responsible for their actions, this gives one an almost motherly sense of appreciation for another human being. I do, ironically, find some human beings insufferable, but I do none the less realize the importance of respecting the nature of humanity, which is fundamentally deterministic. This, I agree wholeheartedly with in what Aroura said, regarding the prison system. I cannot under state how badly I feel that our prison system is draconian, barbaric and sadistic. Incarcerating non violent offenders makes no sense, treating prisoners like shit does not condition them for going back into society. In fact, I've heard many ex-prisoners, or prisoners say directly that prison makes you a "better criminal". Of this topic, I could probably make the subject of an entire blog post, but I will keep this frank.
This is a video from the norway prison system which I think is relevant here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39_2DtpnPus
