Hello People,

Tenacious, if you ignore Free-Will, then yes, you could convince yourself that every act is caused by some outside influence. This, in truth, only alleviates you from the need to accept responsibility for your actions. If you are not the source of the decisions you make and the actions you take, then you are not responsible. I wouldn`t try this argument in a court of law if I were you. :o)
If you consider the plausibility of Free-Will, and you look at Nature, and the difference between the myriad varieties of Life, you can see that the plausibiliy of Free-Will lies only with those species that plausibly possess Self-Awareness. Plant Life is rooted in the ground, it has no Free-Will, lower animal life is known to abide by instinct alone, to the extent that their nature is predictible and repetative, generation upon generation. This is God`s Will for them.
If you look at Mankind, you might say that individuals were caused to act in a specific manner by outside influences, but if you look at Mankinds achievements, you can see that they are without question, a result of Mankind`s aspirations alone. There is no outside influence that caused men to learn how to fly without possessing wings of his own or to go beyond the security of his environment into outer space, other then his own aspirations to do so.

P.S. - Yanniru, whenever life acts in accord with instinct alone, it is necessary to look at the overall picture to determine the effect that life has on the environment and other forms of life, and this invaribly reveals that the actions that the lifeforms which abide by instinct alone provide, are Always of a beneficial nature. The Army Ants may temporarily destroy everything in their path, but they do not subsequently dominate the area to the exclusion of all other Life. :o)

• Curiosity and Creativity don`t necessarily indicate free will - tenacious - October 10, 2000 - 21:47 UTC
  • RE: Curiosity and Creativity don`t necessarily indicate free will - Greg Armel - October 11, 2000 - 05:51 UTC
    • Mind Body - tenacious - October 11, 2000 - 19:17 UTC
      • whoops, screw up alert - tenacious - October 11, 2000 - 19:25 UTC
      • RE: Oneness of Body and Mind - shravaka - October 17, 2000 - 09:51 UTC
      • RE: Oneness of Body and Mind - shravaka - October 17, 2000 - 09:53 UTC
• RE: A note to tenacious with a P.S. for yanniru - yanniru - October 11, 2000 - 12:45 UTC