Originally Posted by Oriphiel

People aren't magical.

We're just chemicals, compiled into certain structures and in certain proportions.

Understand those particles, and you can perfectly predict every "action" that a formation of matter will take. Even environmental factors and quantum randomness can be injected into the equation and accounted for, though obviously we still have a long way to go in being able to accurately gauge such complex ****.

There is no "ability to freely make your own decisions", when the decision that you make is the only one that you ever would have made given any particular equation of formation that you happen to exist in.

Your personality. The information that you have. Your willingness to seek out more information. Every function of your conciousness, which is entirely dependent on the physical structure of your mind and the neurochemicals within. It's all just particles reacting to other particles.

Originally Posted by elphenor

I'd vote for Trump

Originally Posted by Frownland

Mathgod.

Originally Posted by Oriphiel

People aren't magical.

We're just chemicals, compiled into certain structures and in certain proportions.

Understand those particles, and you can perfectly predict every "action" that a formation of matter will take. Even environmental factors and quantum randomness can be injected into the equation and accounted for, though obviously we still have a long way to go in being able to accurately gauge such complex ****.

There is no "ability to freely make your own decisions", when the decision that you make is the only one that you ever would have made given any particular equation of formation that you happen to exist in.

Your personality. The information that you have. Your willingness to seek out more information. Every function of your conciousness, which is entirely dependent on the physical structure of your mind and the neurochemicals within. It's all just particles reacting to other particles.

Originally Posted by Trollheart

You sound like Buffy after they dragged her back from Heaven.

Originally Posted by WWWP

I want to open a school for MB's lost boys and teach them basic coping skills and build up their self esteem and strengthen their emotional intelligence and teach them about vegetables and institutionalized racism and sexism and then they'll all build a bronze statue of me in my honor and my bronzed titties will forever be groped by the grubby paws of you ****ing whiny pathetic white boys.

Originally Posted by Frownland

I don't view predictability as a challenge to free wilI.

Originally Posted by Frownland

Brains undergo a decision-making process influenced by environment and past experience. Far from magical and the permanence of a decision doesn't discount that decision-making process. If we programmed a robot to base its actions on environmental factors and past experience, I'd consider the resulting actions to be the robot's choice.

Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien

There is only one bright spot and that is the growing habit of disgruntled men of dynamiting factories and power-stations; I hope that, encouraged now as ‘patriotism’, may remain a habit! But it won’t do any good, if it is not universal.

Originally Posted by Dharma & Greg

Why? That's just arbitrary.

Originally Posted by Oriphiel

People aren't magical.

We're just chemicals, compiled into certain structures and in certain proportions.

Originally Posted by Frownland

I would say that it's because brains undergo a decision-making process influenced by environment and past experience. Far from magical and the permanence of a decision doesn't discount that decision-making process. If we programmed a robot to base its actions on environmental factors and past experience, I'd consider the resulting actions to be the robot's choice.

Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien

There is only one bright spot and that is the growing habit of disgruntled men of dynamiting factories and power-stations; I hope that, encouraged now as ‘patriotism’, may remain a habit! But it won’t do any good, if it is not universal.

Originally Posted by Dharma & Greg

Why are you using the word "choice"?

Originally Posted by Frownland

Because of the range of options that exists.

Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien

There is only one bright spot and that is the growing habit of disgruntled men of dynamiting factories and power-stations; I hope that, encouraged now as ‘patriotism’, may remain a habit! But it won’t do any good, if it is not universal.