We only get to choose how to respond or not respond.
Think You're Operating on Free Will? Think Again
11–20 of 48 posts
Re: Think You're Operating on Free Will? Think Again
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even if you have no free will, that doesn't mean that your mind can't be changed by arguments.
But, he can only be persuaded by the arguments that will necessarily persuade him, not necessarily those which correspond to reality. What merit is it to simply find the right button to push?
Lots of merit, because pushing that button will give an enjoyment feedback of being right.
Compare with adventure games that more or less consists of finding the right buttons to push in some order :)
Re: Think You're Operating on Free Will? Think Again
#13In addition to the up and down vote there should be a button to nominate the article for the "HN Classics" section, a new list dedicated to all those topics that seem to surface every other week
Re: Think You're Operating on Free Will? Think Again
#14I think it's important to remember not to make free will vs determinism a binary argument. As I look at it, the truth is both and neither.
For various reasons certain people will be influenced and coerced down the path of least resistance by their environment more so than others. Free will is essentially something you must claim for yourself (of course I mean relatively, no one can ever be fully in control of the developments of their life).
Re: Think You're Operating on Free Will? Think Again
#15The law as it has stood for centuries has imposed different degrees of liability based on one's mental state and this is often tied to moral standards. Just a sampling: (a) it takes "malice aforethought" or premeditation to support higher degrees of a murder conviction; (b) one must act with "scienter" (intent or knowledge of wrongdoing) to be held liable for various intentional torts such as fraud; (c) punitive dama…
One reason that legal punishment can still work in the absence of free will, is that absence of legal punishment might make more of the moist robots do societally damaging things. Essentially, it is not about a moral decision, it is about preventive damage control.
Re: Think You're Operating on Free Will? Think Again
#16On actually reading the article: this title is a bad summary. (Makes me think of Slashdot.) What the article covers is the point, which I hope is uncontroversial, that stimuli give rise to responses, and influence the course of cognition: holding a warm cup of coffee makes you think more, well, warmly of someone you're interviewing; seeing a framed picture of a library causes you to speak more quietly; the smell of cleaning agents inspires you to keep your cubicle clean; long dint of repetition encourages you to decide that yes, in fact, you are having a Big Mac attack.
None of this is controversial, unless you're thinking in terms of Descartes -- the body and mind as purely separate and the mind as purely master of the body. There's a Catholic saying that "body and soul are one" -- what the soul (or mind, if you prefer) does, affects the body, and what the body does, affects the soul.
Another thing I'd mention: like evolutionary psychology, this article's research is highly culture-bound. They don't seem to be interested in determining whether pictures of libraries mean the same thing to Indonesian hill tribes, or whether the scent of Febreeze means the same thing to Moroccans (or red mages).
Also, as the article points out, this kind of unconscious encouragement can be overcome; you have only to be aware of it.
Re: Think You're Operating on Free Will? Think Again
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
But, he can only be persuaded by the arguments that will necessarily persuade him, not necessarily those which correspond to reality. What merit is it to simply find the right button to push?
Lots of merit, because pushing that button will give an enjoyment feedback of being right. Compare with adventure games that more or less consists of finding the right buttons to push in some order :)
You experience adventure games pretty differently from how I do.
Also note that "merit" and "enjoyment" are different things.
Re: Think You're Operating on Free Will? Think Again
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lots of merit, because pushing that button will give an enjoyment feedback of being right. Compare with adventure games that more or less consists of finding the right buttons to push in some order :)
You experience adventure games pretty differently from how I do. Also note that "merit" and "enjoyment" are different things.
Of course they are. "Enjoyment" is something that can objectively defined, "merit" means whatever you want it to.
Re: Think You're Operating on Free Will? Think Again
#19I've long believed that free will is illusory. Empirical evidence includes studies that suggest that we may make decisions before we're actually aware of them (See Benjamin Libet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Libet ) Your conscious mind is like a 6 year in the back seat with the toy steering wheel, pretending he's driving and making up stories about where he's taking us. Despite that, I can't actually live m…
Libet's EEG timings are only a problem for free will if you think that only the conscious mind can begin an exercise of our free will. Why think that?
Re: Think You're Operating on Free Will? Think Again
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lots of merit, because pushing that button will give an enjoyment feedback of being right. Compare with adventure games that more or less consists of finding the right buttons to push in some order :)
You experience adventure games pretty differently from how I do. Also note that "merit" and "enjoyment" are different things.
That is not really how I experience adventure games, but given the context of comparing a discussion with finding buttons to push, I thought it was apt :)
As for merit vs. enjoyment, I believe that the best merit of discussions is the enjoyment one can derive from it.