Determinism and indeterminism are both concepts that divide both theists and atheists alike. Really, Ive been listening to hours worth of debates back and forth, to and fro, and nothing is even slightly conclusive.
Dan Dennett tried to make his point on determinism clear with the use of a digger wasp. This insect follows a series of genetically programmed steps in preparing for egg laying. If an experimenter interrupts one of these steps the wasp will repeat that step again. For an animal like a wasp, this process of repeating the same behavior can go on indefinitely, the wasp never seeming to notice what is going on. This is the type of mindless, pre-determined behavior is what people can avoid. Humans therefore are less mechanical in thinking than wasps, and show something that might be interpreted as free will.
The deeper philosophical issue of free will can be framed as a paradox. On one hand, we all feel like we have free will, a multitude of behavioral choices to select among. On the other hand, modern biology describes humans as mechanisms that follow all of the same deterministic rules as wasps or inanimate objects. How do we reconcile our feeling of Free Will with the idea that we are mechanical components of a mechanical universe?
Dennett gives his definition of determinism on page one of his book "The Elbow room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting": all physical events are caused or determined by the sum total of all previous events. This definition dodges a question that many people feel should not be dodged: if we repeatedly replayed the universe from the same point in time would it always reach the same future?
There is something like an infinite regress in the lines of determinsm and indeterminism tries to break that regress. Some pose that you have a choice up to an extent but in the bigger picture you will always follow a certain path. Indeterminism states that some events have no cause to begin with and therefore no set endpath. something is either caused or uncaused, with predictable or unpredictable actions and reactions that follow.
This stuff is enough to give people serious headaches.
I know of atheists that do not adhere to the notion of determinism, and some that do. I find the concept interesting but there is nothing really I can honestly say I think of the matter, both have valid points.
Dan Dennett tried to make his point on determinism clear with the use of a digger wasp. This insect follows a series of genetically programmed steps in preparing for egg laying. If an experimenter interrupts one of these steps the wasp will repeat that step again. For an animal like a wasp, this process of repeating the same behavior can go on indefinitely, the wasp never seeming to notice what is going on. This is the type of mindless, pre-determined behavior is what people can avoid. Humans therefore are less mechanical in thinking than wasps, and show something that might be interpreted as free will.
The deeper philosophical issue of free will can be framed as a paradox. On one hand, we all feel like we have free will, a multitude of behavioral choices to select among. On the other hand, modern biology describes humans as mechanisms that follow all of the same deterministic rules as wasps or inanimate objects. How do we reconcile our feeling of Free Will with the idea that we are mechanical components of a mechanical universe?
Dennett gives his definition of determinism on page one of his book "The Elbow room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting": all physical events are caused or determined by the sum total of all previous events. This definition dodges a question that many people feel should not be dodged: if we repeatedly replayed the universe from the same point in time would it always reach the same future?
There is something like an infinite regress in the lines of determinsm and indeterminism tries to break that regress. Some pose that you have a choice up to an extent but in the bigger picture you will always follow a certain path. Indeterminism states that some events have no cause to begin with and therefore no set endpath. something is either caused or uncaused, with predictable or unpredictable actions and reactions that follow.
This stuff is enough to give people serious headaches.
I know of atheists that do not adhere to the notion of determinism, and some that do. I find the concept interesting but there is nothing really I can honestly say I think of the matter, both have valid points.
Best regards,
Leo van Miert
Horsepower is how hard you hit the wall --Torque is how far you take the wall with you
Leo van Miert
Horsepower is how hard you hit the wall --Torque is how far you take the wall with you
