(August 20, 2012 at 9:44 am)spockrates Wrote: Well, they could have chosen a different rat. Maybe a rat doped up on crack cocaine, or a rat given high doses of vitamin B12, which is in popular energy drinks like Red Bull. But are you saying that every behavior of a human being is (like every behavior of a rat) predetermined by one's genetics alone? For example, whether I choose to become an atheist, or remain a Christian--do my genes predetermine this outcome?
I haven't put too much thought into determinism, but I would like to think it's false. That said, I have to lean towards determinism because of the compelling evidence that I have seen for the concept, though, like I said, I haven't looked into the concept too much. That is regular determinism, though, and doesn't take into account things like the choice of a God to make a world where you do whatever it is you do instead of another world where you do different things. The fact that God can choose worlds nullifies free choice in the world he chooses, because of the simple fact that he knowingly chose every single action every single person will take and has taken in the world he chose. Just knowing the actions they will take before they take them doesn't amount to nullified free will, but the fact that he knew every action and created the world to follow that path does.
To answer your question on genetics, yes. Every action you take in any situation is based on your genes and the laws of physics that govern the creation of those genes. You actions were set in stone from the moment matter first came into being, determined by the laws of nature that everything must abide by. Adding a God to the mix simply add the choice of the God into the equation, meaning he created the world in such a way that the first particles would make us, doing whatever it is we do. We answer to the laws, according to your own beliefs, that your God set in place for us, which makes us who we are and who we will be.
Theoretically, we could calculate the future if we were advanced enough to map out the interactions of every atom in the known universe.
My conclusion is that there is no reason to believe any of the dogmas of traditional theology and, further, that there is no reason to wish that they were true.
Man, in so far as he is not subject to natural forces, is free to work out his own destiny. The responsibility is his, and so is the opportunity.
-Bertrand Russell
Man, in so far as he is not subject to natural forces, is free to work out his own destiny. The responsibility is his, and so is the opportunity.
-Bertrand Russell
