How your biology and environment make your decisions for you, according to Dr. Robert Sapolsky. Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/c...
Free will is a nonsense concept - either our actions are pre-determined by existing conditions (memory, DNA, magnetic waves, weather, nutrition, ads, etc) or our actions are determined by existing conditions plus some amount of chance.
If it’s the first one, then theoretically our actions can be predicted, but because all the conditions can’t be known and accounted for then a completely accurate prediction is impossible.
If it’s the second one, then a completely accurate prediction is also impossible.
For theology, it only matters because God torturing people for eternity based on things he set in motion is evil.
For real life it matters less. We still “want” to do the things we do. If anything it means if we want to improve the world we should take a closer look at conditions which create a situation, instead of just expecting people to make a better choice.
For real life it matters less. We still “want” to do the things we do. If anything it means if we want to improve the world we should take a closer look at conditions which create a situation, instead of just expecting people to make a better choice.
If we know conditions that affect our own decisions, then wouldn’t that allow each of us to create better conditions for decision making, or at least avoid decision making when we know for a fact conditions present at that moment produce poor decisions?
Yes! Awareness of the conditions that lead to a decision is also a condition that leads to a decision. It’s just there are many factors at play, so it’s not the only one.
Also I was more talking about societal/systemic change. If we want to see changes in people’s actions as a trend, we should consider more than telling people “you need to do better.”
Free will is a nonsense concept - either our actions are pre-determined by existing conditions (memory, DNA, magnetic waves, weather, nutrition, ads, etc) or our actions are determined by existing conditions plus some amount of chance.
If it’s the first one, then theoretically our actions can be predicted, but because all the conditions can’t be known and accounted for then a completely accurate prediction is impossible.
If it’s the second one, then a completely accurate prediction is also impossible.
For theology, it only matters because God torturing people for eternity based on things he set in motion is evil.
For real life it matters less. We still “want” to do the things we do. If anything it means if we want to improve the world we should take a closer look at conditions which create a situation, instead of just expecting people to make a better choice.
But what if I DECIDE to poop my pants?
It would be either because of the chaos of the universe or God’s plan
If we know conditions that affect our own decisions, then wouldn’t that allow each of us to create better conditions for decision making, or at least avoid decision making when we know for a fact conditions present at that moment produce poor decisions?
Yes! Awareness of the conditions that lead to a decision is also a condition that leads to a decision. It’s just there are many factors at play, so it’s not the only one.
Also I was more talking about societal/systemic change. If we want to see changes in people’s actions as a trend, we should consider more than telling people “you need to do better.”