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Oh dear. Put your blaster away, Hans. The topic was traditions, not philosophy or religion.Only, it would seem, because you still think "atheism" is a sort of philosophy and I have just admitted it is one without wisdom. It is not philosophy.
There is not such religion as Judeo-Christianity. Your original claim was nonsense.
Atheism isn't a "tradition" either.Oh dear. Put your blaster away, Hans. The topic was traditions, not philosophy or religion.
I was thinking a bit more about the concept of rewinding time and pressing play again and how things would play out differently.And as Albert said - He doesn't play dice...
Id like to see someone walk us through a person's decision making process, step by individual step, and show us exactly which step could have gone another way.I was thinking a bit more about the concept of rewinding time and pressing play again and how things would play out differently.
The genetic mutations are random, so evolution would play out differently. Even if the mutation wasn't significant, it might make a subtle difference in the life of the offspring, slightly differently expressed hormones or whatever, could impact the mood of the individual and hence could easily impact a decision here or there.
Diseases that change quite quickly due to the very fast reproduction rates, would play out differently.
Cancer can be random. Which means some individual randomly might not live long enough to have offspring or to make some significant difference that they did in the first play out of time.
I think there is very good reason to think if all you had was a rewind and play button, that things would play out differently especially the further back you rewind time.
And why it woud have gone another way. Even if there is a ghost in the shell, what would the soul decide differently this time around with potentially all physical things being exactly the same. Is the soul a little bit more morally flexible this time around?Id like to see someone walk us through a person's decision making process, step by individual step, and show us exactly which step could have gone another way.
Anyone who manages not to get angry when his car won't work and his holiday plans are ruined is a saint. Anyone who blames his car is an idiot. Do you understand the difference?Anyone who gets angry at his car for not starting needs serious help.
Added. Now can you address the many points I have made, please?Here's a tip. Add Erich Fromm's "Escape From Freedom" to your reading list. Some say a closet atheist, Fromm was a noted psychoanalyst and social philosopher.
I think it's more important to consider what leads to each decision being made. From your blood sugar levels (you skipped breakfast), to the make up of your prefrontal cortex (your mother carried on drinking when she was pregnant), your culture (your great great grandfather moved to the US from Iran) to you actually being here (your great great x 1000 grandfather turned right instead of left coming out of his cave).Id like to see someone walk us through a person's decision making process, step by individual step, and show us exactly which step could have gone another way.
I'm sure people actually think this. They think that if conditions were exactly the same then this time they'd choose B or C instead of A. Which is how we describe am arbitrary decision. The dictionary definition of which is: based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.And why it woud have gone another way. Even if there is a ghost in the shell, what would the soul decide differently this time around with potentially all physical things being exactly the same. Is the soul a little bit more morally flexible this time around?
Yeah, I'll accept that.I think there is very good reason to think if all you had was a rewind and play button, that things would play out differently especially the further back you rewind time.
For sure I recognize, at least in the abstract, all the conditions and conditioning that drive our behaviors and opinions. I think they are vastly underappreciated.I think it's more important to consider what leads to each decision being made. From your blood sugar levels (you skipped breakfast), to the make up of your prefrontal cortex (your mother carried on drinking when she was pregnant), your culture (your great great grandfather moved to the US from Iran) to you actually being here (your great great x 1000 grandfather turned right instead of left coming out of his cave).
You can draw a direct line between them all. They are direct causes which led to you to making any decision at all. And they are infinite. Just think of everything that had to happen just so that your parents met. So we're not aware of them. They are lost to us. But if someone suffers severe brain damage then we think 'Well, that's obviously the cause of him deciding to do X - he wouldn't have done that otherwise.' (Just think of Phineas Cage: Phineas Gage - Wikipedia or Charles Whitman: University of Texas tower shooting - Wikipedia).
We make allowances for causes that are obvious, as in those two men. But cannot possibly consider every cause that led us to a single point. You can't feel constrained by things of which you are not aware. So we feel that our decisions are not determined.
Yes, conditions will be changed because the universe isn't perfect, nothing is perfect, there is always randomness and always corruption. As excellent as our cells are at reproducing and error checking, mistakes still happen. As excellent as our computer systems are, our data storage systems are, corruption always happens. We can have data storage that is 99.999999% reliable, but we can't have 100% because the universe doesn't work that way.Yeah, I'll accept that.
There's two ways of looking at this. You propose that the same situation repeats itself exactly (going back as far as you like) as if the film is being rerun. So Michael always decides to have Freddo killed (oops, spoiler alert). And you decide to have eggs instead of cereal. Or you say that you start with exactly the same conditions and see what happens. And in that case there will be a degree of randomness (you mentioned genetic changes for example).
At the macro level we are all making many arbitrary decisions most of the time.I'm sure people actually think this. They think that if conditions were exactly the same then this time they'd choose B or C instead of A. Which is how we describe am arbitrary decision. The dictionary definition of which is: based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.
So someone had a reason last time and it's not valid this time? Then it's arbitrary.
Seems like my type of guy:Here's a tip. Add Erich Fromm's "Escape From Freedom" to your reading list.
Yes, he's got you pegged as the passive authoritarian.Seems like my type of guy:
C'mon...you need to respond to any of the numerous comments. Erich is backing up everything I've been telling you so far. Remember this bit:Yes, he's got you pegged as the passive authoritarian.
The passive authoritarian “wants to receive commands, so that he does not have the necessity to make decisions and carry responsibility.”
Theres nothing in the determinist view that would make a person welcome authority impinging on the fulfillment of their desires - whether those desire are "low" pleasure-appetites. or "high" aspirations to righteous living.Yes, he's got you pegged as the passive authoritarian.
The passive authoritarian “wants to receive commands, so that he does not have the necessity to make decisions and carry responsibility.”
You can tell when a thread is exhausted. One of two things happens: The OP is just trying in vain for a new record number of posts, or he just don't read well.C'mon...you need to respond to any of the numerous comments. Erich is backing up everything I've been telling you so far. Remember this bit:
'Now this intellect is yours. Nobody else's. It's the one that you have now. But it's not the one you had a few years ago. Not the one you had when you were a child. It's developed. It has matured. It wasn't fixed. The decisions you made when you were six weren't the same ones you made when you were sixteen. Which were different to the ones you made when you were 36. And at each stage they'd be different to the guy who steals your wallet.'
He keeps repeating himself because you dont seem to want to tackle his question head on.You can tell when a thread is exhausted. One of two things happens: The OP is just trying in vain for a new record number of posts, or he just don't read well.
I'm thinking in this case, it's the latter so, so long.
Oh, and yes, I do remember. Isn't that you plagiarizing me again? See my post #518.
This one? I'm not sure of the relevance.Oh, and yes, I do remember. Isn't that you plagiarizing me again? See my post #518.
No, my intellect is that of the person I am now. Not the person I used to be. Yours has changed as well. For why that has happened, see those quotes from Erich. *Do you still reason like a twelve-year-old, or a twenty-year-old.
Of course. Why couldn't they?Can right reason move the racist to become non-racist? Can the criminal be rehabilitated, can the addicted be set free from their addiction?
Who cares when it happens? It's not relevant. What had this post of yours have to do with anything I've been asking you in my last half a dozen? Which you refuse to address.This "ah-hah" moment can be proximate, but it is imo more often remote. But it is still a moment in time.
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