How about we leave unsettled?
That way works better for the majority of people.
While we don't know, we can speculate... I'd wager our brains are deterministic, but very very complex. So much so that our own sense of responsibility must be a part of that complex system and must be accounted for when making a decision.
We need to have boundaries imposed so that our brains can work under them. These boundaries are commonly called rules or laws.
These rules and laws usually come from society, first from parents, then teachers... some of us even go to law school!
Of course, in the absence of a society, our brains tend to manufacture one that suits them... sadly there are few studies done on isolated human individuals... but one can perform thought experiments... something of the sort has been explored as a novel with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred...f_Solitude... although it was not intended as a psychological study, but more of a societal description. Then you have Tarzan, Nell (maybe she doesn't belong here), Mogli, The Outcast, Robinson Crusoe...
But I'm getting sidetracked...
The point is, this should be a deterministic system, of such a complexity that many possibilities arise and the means of arriving at any particular decision is highly non-linear, hinging on a multitude of little details.
The words I choose to interact with you, here, have been imparted on me in some fashion and I am now recalling them... some fancier, some cruder... even the act of answering on this thread and not another is a decision.
Most decisions we make throughout the day, we don't notice them....
We blink, because our eye is dry or some dirt entered it... is the blinking process conscious or unconscious? Is it deterministic?
Who says blinking, says any reflex action that isn't really unconscious... like a martial arts master that blocks a blow almost without looking... all his senses acquire information which tells him that he must block that blow... or else, he knows it will hurt... and he doesn't want that pain...
I'm rambling, now.... sorry... my brain does that, sometimes!
That way works better for the majority of people.
While we don't know, we can speculate... I'd wager our brains are deterministic, but very very complex. So much so that our own sense of responsibility must be a part of that complex system and must be accounted for when making a decision.
We need to have boundaries imposed so that our brains can work under them. These boundaries are commonly called rules or laws.
These rules and laws usually come from society, first from parents, then teachers... some of us even go to law school!
Of course, in the absence of a society, our brains tend to manufacture one that suits them... sadly there are few studies done on isolated human individuals... but one can perform thought experiments... something of the sort has been explored as a novel with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred...f_Solitude... although it was not intended as a psychological study, but more of a societal description. Then you have Tarzan, Nell (maybe she doesn't belong here), Mogli, The Outcast, Robinson Crusoe...
But I'm getting sidetracked...
The point is, this should be a deterministic system, of such a complexity that many possibilities arise and the means of arriving at any particular decision is highly non-linear, hinging on a multitude of little details.
The words I choose to interact with you, here, have been imparted on me in some fashion and I am now recalling them... some fancier, some cruder... even the act of answering on this thread and not another is a decision.
Most decisions we make throughout the day, we don't notice them....
We blink, because our eye is dry or some dirt entered it... is the blinking process conscious or unconscious? Is it deterministic?
Who says blinking, says any reflex action that isn't really unconscious... like a martial arts master that blocks a blow almost without looking... all his senses acquire information which tells him that he must block that blow... or else, he knows it will hurt... and he doesn't want that pain...
I'm rambling, now.... sorry... my brain does that, sometimes!
