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RE: RE: RE: RE: Free Will... The Dead Topic Claws Back Into The Woodwork

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Posted by S.H. Le on October 5, 2000 15:08:32 UTC

I have to admit i always have to read your post over at least a couple of times for it to fully sink in. You speak with very poetic tone, so forgive me if i misinterpret anything. I`m sorta literal minded ;)

If i understand you correctly, i think you`re saying that determinism is the process by which nature has given rise to everything we see in the universe up until humans came along - because we have self awareness. So i take it you equate free will with self awareness.

I completely agree that humans are self serving and have caused major ecological changes in the biosphere, but in fairness every animal is self serving - obeying only innate biological drives with the aim of survival and procreating. We are no more self serving than any animal, the difference lies in our ability to perceive possible futures. The future is a concept... it doesn`t exist other than in the conscious mind. We then, have the ability to take the best course from what we can predict. This has proven to be a very effective adaptation from an evolutionary standpoint.

Anyways, regarding your statement that the apparent reversal of determinism points to free will. As i`ve said, i have a hard time conceiving any event that goes uncaused.

In nature, we observe balances that are upset constantly, but an equilibrium is almost always restored. If we continue to mismanage ecological populations in the way we`re doing, it is to our own detriment, because it is to these entities that we owe our own survival. If this trend continues, we humans will be eliminated and nature`s balance restored. Like you said before, nature works through trial and error. Make way for the next dominant species... i hear cockroaches can survive direct nuclear blasts ie. chernobyl. Resiliant buggers ;)

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