If hard determinism (e.g., "no free will") is, in fact (philosophical realism) true, how could one ever know that? But, in not knowing something to be true, does such make it not true? It's kind of like a Cosmos that had no beginning, and is infinite, both in time and space, into the past. Such may be true, but how could we ever know such?
The problem with saying that free will exists is, in fact, it does not, at least in certain circumstances. A clinician could go on and on (and, on) here, but the fact is that no one (not even Trump or his most adherent supporters) would accuse an Alzheimer's patient of having "chosen" to have forgotten the names of his/her grandchildren (or, the fact that they have grandchildren.)
That our brains create our minds (hence, no brain, no mind) is the simplest explanation of reality. From the Conservation Laws at one end ("Does a soul violate the Conservation of Electric Charge?") to Broca's Aphasia at the the other with countless neurological, pharmacological or other fMRI studies in between, not to mention consciousness in animals, one can and should conclude that an immaterial soul does not exist, at least to the extant that one can and should conclude the fairies do not exist. That atheistic materialism is falsifiable (an OBE where one "sees" remotely concealed objects) means that it is, from a scientific POV, at least testable. As with the 2020 election results, some people in our Society have shown that they are capable of believing almost anything.
The problem with saying that free will exists is, in fact, it does not, at least in certain circumstances. A clinician could go on and on (and, on) here, but the fact is that no one (not even Trump or his most adherent supporters) would accuse an Alzheimer's patient of having "chosen" to have forgotten the names of his/her grandchildren (or, the fact that they have grandchildren.)
That our brains create our minds (hence, no brain, no mind) is the simplest explanation of reality. From the Conservation Laws at one end ("Does a soul violate the Conservation of Electric Charge?") to Broca's Aphasia at the the other with countless neurological, pharmacological or other fMRI studies in between, not to mention consciousness in animals, one can and should conclude that an immaterial soul does not exist, at least to the extant that one can and should conclude the fairies do not exist. That atheistic materialism is falsifiable (an OBE where one "sees" remotely concealed objects) means that it is, from a scientific POV, at least testable. As with the 2020 election results, some people in our Society have shown that they are capable of believing almost anything.
