If you don't like the thought that there's nothing after death, that's okay. I think that way. I come to terms with it knowing that whatever atoms exist in my body at the moment of my corporeal demise will be reused by the universe at some future point in some way or another. The water in my blood may flow down a river some day. It may end up in an elegantly prepared cocktail. It may be in the paint splashed upon the window of some corporate office in protest thousands of years in the future. It is fantastical thinking, but thinking that I cherish all the same.
I don't know why I feel entitled enough to consider the fact that the atoms that make up my body at the point of now, or the point of the future are somehow "owned by me", when they're not... "me", just whatever makes up the concept I have of "me".
On your belief in free will, I think that it isn't as clear cut as it existing or not. While the universe and its physical laws have predictable inputs and outputs, small changes in the starting conditions of two different, identical experiments can yield vastly different results.
If we examine ourselves as biological machines that just respond to those stimuli and inputs and outputs, are we truly agents of chaos, or are we just the winds of entropy reacting to some sort of cascading, distributed illusion that we are able to truly influence the environment beyond that of our thought?
I love to think on all of these things, and while they may be depressing at times, there's a great deal of satisfaction in completing certain tasks on auto-pilot, and being able to reflect upon the events of the past with a "I had no choice, anyway".
However, I really do want to delve deeper into the research that offers that "free will" (however it is defined) - does exist, but am struggling to move beyond Sapolsky who has so many convincing theses against its existence.
I think we are us—because if we take that logic to the extreme, then nothing is really ours in any way. But then again, if someone came around and took my computer, was it ever really mine? In a thousand years, it won’t be a laptop anymore—so was it ever one to begin with?
Still, I believe the atoms and cells in my body at the time of writing this comment are mine—same as the clothes on my body.
I respect everyone’s beliefs, as long as they don’t harm anyone—at least not directly or intentionally.
The idea that we’re biological machines is something I can get behind. But I still think we have free will. Like, if I were to set my whole life aside and devote myself to helping the starving or the homeless—I could. I don’t, but I could. And I think if enough people did, it could actually be done. It’s a difficult topic though.
Thinking “I had no choice” in certain situations can feel satisfying, I think it’s easier to think that way than to analyze every single situation, then again both those routs can lead to very different results.
I haven’t heard of Sapolsky before, but I’ll look into him.
Thinking you have a choice and making a choice are interesting notions to hold. Knowing is a different game all together. It is very nebulous around whether it is an illusion, or whether we can actively influence things.
We can all ideate things, or use the argument that I might say "purple monkey dishwasher" to the person who asks me "how am I going" today, but that isn't necessarily me expressing my free will.
I need to find a bloody definition of free will before I am totally convinced if it exists or it doesn't. The reason the topic is so important to me is I'm trying to write a fictional story about it at the moment, and I can't entirely and exactly articulate what I want the theme or the learning of it to be.
Impasse, perhaps?
the definition of free will is a complicated thing. you can look it up, but i don’t think it’s something that can be defined in one specific way. and yeah, sure, a person’s free will might be influenced by their genetics or life experiences — but even then, could someone really predict what that person would do next, even if they knew everything? like, from that person’s perspective, could their next move — or even two moves ahead — really be predicted?
That's the "magic" of it all - we can't know. Too many variables.