Truth Seeker

Some people are better at self-control than others. This is due to the mix of their genes, environments, nutrients and experiences. We don't choose ou...

I agree with your caveats. We are never free from the determinants (genes, environments, nutrients and experiences), constraints and consequences of o...

As you wish. Thank you for your time and posts.

I am not a philosopher. I am a scientist. We make voluntary choices but our choices are never free from determinants, constraints and consequences. Th...

You want to remain ignorant instead of learning something new. How fascinating! I am not blaming you or crediting you. If I or another organism had yo...

No, doubt is not special. Just because you claim it to be special does not make it so. Have you read the two books I recommended?

No, doubting is not special. You clearly don't understand how the brain works. Please read "Being You: A New Science of Consciousness" by Anil Seth an...

The mental state of experiencing doubt is not something special that sets it apart from other mental states. We experience many sensory perceptions, t...

Let me give you an example to help you understand. The selection of lottery numbers is entirely deterministic. I doubt I can predict them with 100% ac...

The statement: "Doubts are not allowed in a deterministic world." is false.

Knowing or not knowing the consequences of our actions has nothing to do with options being real or not real. We can make voluntary choices. My point ...

Yes, the fourth option is also possible.

We never know all the long-term consequences of our actions. For example, let's say in my previous example, I cleaned up the dog poo from the pavement...

Even when we are sure about the outcomes, we are still dealing with options. For example, let's say that I am walking and I notice dog poo on the pave...

I did take on board your question and I answered it to the best of my knowledge. If you have a better answer, I am happy to read about it.

Our choices can be voluntary but they are not free from determinants, constraints and consequences. Our reasoning and thinking depend entirely on our ...

As I already said in my previous post, we are uncertain because we are not all-knowing. Only an all-knowing being is always certain about everything.

I don't know.

I agree.

We are uncertain because we are not all-knowing. Which lottery numbers will be the winning numbers? If we knew that we would always be able to pick th...

My genes preceded me and formed the foundation of my existence and nature. I didn't choose my genes and I don't have direct control over them. The sam...

I don't know enough about it to have an opinion about it. Please tell me more about how quantum events affect the weather. Is there a book you can rec...

I agree. Thank you.

Thank you for telling me more about the different types of determinism. Quantum indeterminacy is irrelevant because at the macroscopic level, all the ...

I am not convinced. I have been carrying out experiments on myself for many years to see how choices are made. Every single experiment showed me that ...

I agree that options are real. I have been in mazes but not labyrinths.

We make voluntary choices (e.g. my choice to post on this forum was voluntary) but we don't make choices that are free from determinants and constrain...

Genes, environments, nutrients and experiences are variables which determine and constrain our choices. They are real and their effects on our choices...

Yes, they are. The second meaning of 'free will' is the "freedom of humans to make choices that are not determined by prior causes". Our choices are n...

I am quoting the Merriam-Webster dictionary: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/free%20will "noun 1 : voluntary choice or decision I do this o...

I am not denying that I have a will. I am saying that my will is not free from determinants and constraints.

My point is not irrelevant. My point is that my choices are not free from my genes, environments from conception to the present, nutrients from concep...

It's the variables (genes, environments from conception to the present, nutrients from conception to the present and experiences from the womb to the ...

If I had the genes of a banana tree, instead of my human genes, I would have grown into a banana tree, provided I was in the appropriate environment a...

I agree. How would I know with 100% certainty if they are determined or not?

If I had the genes of a banana tree instead of my genes, I would indeed have grown up to be a banana tree instead of an adult human provided I had the...

Are the choices we make not determined by our genes, environments, nutrients, and experiences? If they are determined, then wouldn't identical choices...

But I didn't do otherwise. Is it inevitable that I posted the original post and read your last reply and typed these words?

I am trying to understand how choices are made and if our choices are inevitable or not. Could I have refrained from posting in this forum? I don't kn...

How do you know this?

I think you are right.

What I am exploring here is whether our choices are inevitable or not. Are we free agents or are our choices determined by variables such as genes, en...

I am not talking about changing the past. What determines who chooses what? If the choices are determined by genes, environments, nutrients and experi...

Even if all the choices made by all sentient living things are inevitable, we still experience making them. If I had the genes, environments, nutrient...

I picked "I don't know" because I don't know the answer. If I knew the answer, I would not have asked the question on this forum.

Having a permanent place to live is not essential. I and billions of humans don't have a permanent place to live. Lots of people pay rent instead of o...

Like you, I was taught by my parents to be self-sacrificial. I have donated lots of blood, drinking water, food, clothes, money, etc. to save and impr...

That depends on whether we are morally culpable or not. If hard determinism is true, no one is morally culpable and no one deserves any credit or blam...

What do you mean by my "total fragility"? Vegans are strong and ethical. We are not fragile. What about examining "divine justice"? Might is right is ...

You said "divine justice". Since 31% of humans alive in 2010 identified as Christians, I brought up the Bible. We don't have religious population data...