2 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Which side shoulders the burden of proof?
So a microscopic organism that reacts in a completely predictable way based on environmental factors like heat and light is demonstrating free will?
In that case you could argue that the atoms in a rock are using their free will to stay in the rock?
If everything has free will then it's a meaningless term. If not everything has free will then there needs to be a clear distinction where it begins.
Comment by diogenesthehopeful at 03/09/2024 at 15:45 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
So a microscopic organism that reacts in a completely predictable way based on environmental factors like heat and light is demonstrating free will?
Only if it is trying to avoid pain/death etc If it is doing what it wants to do then it can be operating deterministically because there are systems in place to control that sort of behavior. If you want chocolate then there could be some bug in your gut that is making you crave chocolate and your physical body is designed to keep you alive. So when you body is thirsty you crave water.
In that case you could argue that the atoms in a rock are using their free will to stay in the rock?
I'm not implying that
If everything has free will then it's a meaningless term
Agreed. I'm not even implying all humans have the exact same level of freedom. I don't believe prison inmates or paraplegics and the same level of freedom as normally heathy adults in a free state have. I don't believe people under tyrannical states have as much freedom as people in free states do.