1 post tagged “free will”

Wil Wheaton posted a link to Scott Adams' blog post about free will vs. determinism, and it made me think of the Philosophy 101 class I took as an undergrad.  We got to the part of the course where we were talking about free will vs. materialism (determinism), and after going over the various texts from the philosophers the professor had the room split up.  Everyone who believed in free will went to one side of the room, and everyone who believed in determinism when to the other.  I happened to be the only person on the determinist side, with twenty-some fellow students glaring back at me.  Then the professor had us defend our positions.

The most outspoken of the free-will camp asked me if I really believed that people made all of their decisions based on their genetics.  I responded, "Of course, not.  People make their decisions based on a combination of things, including genetic predispositions, but also including their current state, and their experience and upbringing."

And then I asked, "So what do you base your decisions on, if it's not any of those things?"

Alpha male: "I have a soul, and it makes decisions."

Me: "And what does that soul base those decisions on?"

Alpha male: "It just decides."

Me: "If soul's make decisions that aren't based on anything - like your experiences or your upbringing - then how is that different than just flipping a coin?"

He didn't really have a response to that.