[net.religion] "Re: Does Brain Science Contradict Free W

dennisf@ihlpf.UUCP (09/02/83)

#R:teklabs:-238800:ihlpf:22600032:  0:1248
ihlpf!dap1    Sep  2  0:13:00 1983

Yes, I've thought about that possibility too.  I agree with the conclusion
but see little relevance with this definition of free will.  A ball doesn't
have what I call "free will" just because nobody bothers to determine its
trajectory ahead of time.  It's just as deterministic as clockwork.  In the
same way, I wouldn't claim that people had free will just because they
didn't sit down and determine their own "trajectories" ahead of time.

Over and above all the hoopla about determinism vs. non-determinism, I find
it difficult to classify a kid born in a ghetto with an alcoholic father
who murders the mother as a kid with a "free will", at least not free with
respect to his environment.  If that kid grows up to be a pimp, drug dealer,
murderer or whatever, I claim that his environment had much more to do with
that than his "free will".  Why do some kids grow up in this environment and
turn out to be presidents of philanthropical organizations?  Because no two
kids grow up in EXACTLY the same environment.  Nonetheless, the statistics
indicate that such a kid's behavior is not "outside the effects of causality".


                                                 Darrell Plank
                                                 BTL-IH