dap1 (04/15/83)
#R:5941ux:-24100:ihlpf:22600002: 0:1091 ihlpf!dap1 Apr 14 23:13:00 1983 I think a choice requires several possible alternatives. Is there anyone who would seriously contend that a "choice" has been made when there was only one alternative? That's the point. If God has foreknowledge of our actions then there IS only one alternative, namely what he knew would come about. I always think back to an experiment where a person was hypnotized and told that when a certain word was spoken they should get up and open the window. When brought out of the hypnotic state they had no remembrance of what went on, but when the word was spoken, they did indeed open the window. When asked why, they replied that there was no particular reason, i.e. free will. Just because they were ignorant of the hypnotic order didn't make their decision to open the window "free will". They could have argued all they wanted about how they didn't HAVE to open the window but in fact, once they were brought out of the trance the die was cast. I think that all of us have this same illusion of free will when actually it's the forces of nature that are guiding our every action.
claus (04/15/83)
I enjoy these discussions about determinism and free will very much. One thing they always make me think of is something I refer to as a random event. What if I map out possible actions and determine which action I take based on what most people agree to be random events(rolling of die, flipping of coins,random number generator on a computer,etc.). Will 'God' know what the final outcome of any sequence of random events are? Is there really any such thing as random events? To give an example of what I mean suppose I leave my office and star walking. The first person I meet I ask for a number between 1 and 12, the second person for a number between 1 and 28, and the third person for a number between 1 and 24. The fourth person I ask for a city in the US. I have previously decided that I am going to drive to that city at the time(3rd person) on the day(2nd person) of the month(1st person). Now I repeat the question- does 'God' know what will happen before I leave my office? If he does I don't see where I had any choice in the matter. If nothing is random(everything is predictable) then life is nothing more than a giant computer program being run on a giant computer. It has no meaning since the end result is already known. I would like to know what other people think about 'random events'. Dave Claus ABI/Indy P.S. By the way I'm going to flip a coin to decide whether or not to send this article.
dje (04/19/83)
A comment in response to the question of whether God can know what you will do
if your choice is to be based on the outcome of a random future event (such
as the flip of a coin):
First, your choice is still your choice, since you are setting the rule that
the coin toss will determine your course of action. (You can still break
your own rule and take the "heads" action if the coin comes up "tails.")
Second, we mortals are constrained to a linear flow of time. The future is
inaccessible to us until it arrives. Can we know for sure whether God is
similarly constrained? (an aside: Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" gave
a whimsical view of a person who slipped out of the linear time constraint.)
Dave Ellis
Bell Labs, Piscataway NJ
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