I can’t believe people still believe in free will and agency. I’m not aware of anything in biology or physics that suggests we have some magic spark in a mystical plane that gives us “free will”. We just do stuff in response to stimulus. I would have thought this debate would die when neurologists started opening up people’s brains and inducing massive personality shifts and various cognitive aberrations by poking people’s brain meat with electrodes. It’s just a false dichotomy left over from weird medieval religious nonsense.

God they’re talking about choosing to act Killllll meeeeeee

I’m reading the intro to Infinite Thought btws feel free to check in here because I will be cataloging my distress relating to French people who spend too much time thinking and not enough time practicing with swords.

  • zifnab25 [he/him, any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    I don’t believe in “free will”

    Is utterly incidental if you’re sincere, as your beliefs are self-admittedly just the consequence of accumulated prior events.

    Similarly, the lack of belief is beyond the individual’s control.

    And I know that makes you angry, but that’s ok. Your anger is also just a sum of events beyond your control. As are all these posts. And the responses to them.

    Everything just kinda happens and we’re all at the complete mercy of our history. One almost questions the utility of cognitive thought. After all, how is all that gray matter in your head an advantage over a lump of granite? You’re subject to causality either way.

    • Frank [he/him, he/him]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      I don’t really believe in cognitive thought, either. I’m about 80% sure it’s a post hoc illusion, a part of our brain taking notes about things that were already decided 300ms ago.