rsl@ihnss.UUCP (10/18/84)
To those demanding a definition of free will: A moment ago you took an action resulting in your ability to read this message. At that moment you were exercising your free will. Now that you have experienced it, defining it will be a simple matter of picking the right words for yourself. If it will help: first pick a genus to which it belongs and then select the necessary differentia to satisfy yourself. Now, wasn't that easy!!! Aren't you glad you have a free will to enable you to do it?
jtm@syteka.UUCP (Jim McCrae) (10/19/84)
A moment ago you made a conscious decision which enabled you to read this message. If free will exists, then that was possibly free will manifest. If there is no free will, then something else became manifest. You won't learn if there is free will in this universe, unless you stay here after you die and it's revealed to you then. So read the next article and stay calm. Jim McCrae ...!hplabs!sytek!jtm
gam@amdahl.UUCP (Gordon A. Moffett) (10/23/84)
Free will: the absence of negative reinforcers.
From B F Skinner's "Beyond Freedom and Dignity" (pg 39-40):
Man's struggle for freedom is not due to a will
to be free, but to certain behavioral processes
characteristic of the human organism, the chief
effect of which is the avoidance of or escape from
so-called "aversive" features of the environment.
Physical and biological technologies have been mainly
concerned with natural aversive stimuli;
the struggle for freedom is concerned with
stimuli INTENTIONALLY ARRANGED BY OTHER PEOPLE
[emphasis mine].
The literature of freedom has identified the
other people and has proposed ways of escaping
from them or weakening or destroying their power.
It has been successful in reducing the aversive
stimuli used in intentional control, but it has
made the mistake of defining freedom in terms
of states of mind or feelings, and it has therefore
not been able to deal effectively with
techniques of control which do not breed escape
or revolt but nevertheless have aversive consequences.
It has been forced to brand all control as wrong
and to misrepresent many of the advantages to
be gained from a social environment....
The Libertarian philosophy is the best example I can think of
where control is viewed as wrong [this is not a swipe at Libertarianism;
I admire many of their ideals, but I believe their philosophy is
what Skinner is talking about].
--
Gordon A. Moffett ...!{ihnp4,hplabs,amd,nsc}!amdahl!gam
~ You say you want a revolution ... ~
[ This is just me talking. ]