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guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)94. Some random comments:
First:
Our brains have evolved to best allow us to pass on our genes. A brain that acts randomly could never survive, and those genes won't get passed on. Any of us that don't properly follow social rules will not be successful. People around him/her will react poorly to improper behavior.
Social rules are not "hardwired" into the brain. They are social constructs. And these social constructs are needed if humans are to survive communally.
Second:
Our brains are programmed, through learning and instinct, to give us positive and negative feedback (feelings) based on our thoughts and actions. Our feelings do give us a stake in our own existence (motivation) which automatically forces our brains to work in our own benefit. Our consciousness doesn't do the actually decision making, but it certainly plays an important role.
The decision to eat potatoes or carrots is deliberately made. And the decision, being deliberately made, involves conscious behavior because it is not automatic behavior like breathing or digestion.
Third:
Science certainly has difficulty explaining consciousness, but if we had free will this wouldn't be the case. We would understand where our thoughts come from and how we reach our decisions.
Free will means the ability to choose freely, without coercion. If you freely choose to eat potatoes you are exercising your free will. True, the choice is a minor one, but that does not make it any less a freely made choice.
My simplified interpretation of your idea is that if any part of our decision making is automatic, rather than specifically thought out, that nullifies the concept of free will.
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A whole arm, leg, branch of theology is dedicated to understanding your question
TexasProgresive
Aug 2016
#2
Those are great questions that should be asked. Religion isn't going to answer them though.
cleanhippie
Aug 2016
#11
The most sophisticated believers realized the inherent contradiction in this long ago...
trotsky
Aug 2016
#7
Is it also "reasonable to assume" that since we are told that suffering is a necessary consequence..
trotsky
Aug 2016
#46
Still doesn't explain a universe full of suffering that is mostly incompatible...
Humanist_Activist
Aug 2016
#40
Well, "free will" really does become a matter of faith for Christians, since...
trotsky
Aug 2016
#90
Artificial intelligence hasn't advanced with the ability to write what I write,
cpwm17
Aug 2016
#100
Being an asshole, God placed the Tree of Knowledge where he knew Adam would eat
immoderate
Aug 2016
#20
I've wondered why this all-knowing God didn't know enough to create a female counterpart
bulloney
Aug 2016
#29
That seems to be a stretch, particularly since, technically, female is the "default" for...
Humanist_Activist
Aug 2016
#41
Since there is no obvious other candidate world to compare to this world,
struggle4progress
Aug 2016
#44