Post by Mitch_J on Dec 2, 2015 22:03:58 GMT -5
Some of my favorites:
Vexen Crabtree
Sam Snyder
Trick Slattery
Daniel Miessler
"Free will is an illusion. Our amazingly, wonderfully complex brains are
comprised of various cognitive systems cycling amongst themselves and
generating our thoughts, consciousness, choices and behaviour. These
systems and their effects all result from the mechanical, inorganic laws
of physics, over which we have no control."
- Crabtree
"The concept of free will is useless at best and damaging at worst.
Free will is often used to blame people for things beyond their control.
Observers often have cognitive biases that lead them to falsely and
cruelly assume that each individual is totally responsible for
everything that happens to them in life. Based on arguments from
neuroscience and physics, the incoherent idea of “free will” appears to
be obsolete. A person’s actions are driven by activities in the
brain. These activities result from neurobiological states involving
neurotransmitters, electrical activity, neuroanatomy, and other
biological systems. The state of the brain is determined by genetics,
childhood experiences, and the current environment. This biological
pathway does not leave room for free will.
Free will and personal responsibility are unscientific myths.
Biological research continues to overturn conventional ideas about free
will. Human behavior is controlled by biological and environmental
influences. A person’s actions are determined by his or her brain, which
is itself determined by genetic and environmental influences. Every
action is caused by a prior action going back to the beginning of the
universe."\
- Snyder
"The fact that people contrive free will based solely on the possibility
of indeterminism in the universe makes it of utmost importance that we
cover that base as well. And it turns out that not only is an
indeterministic universe as incompatible with free will than a
deterministic one, but it’s also much more of a detriment if any single
non-caused event has a direct say in what we think or act."
- Slattery
"Instead, events are moving through you, and you are being given the perception that you made a choice.
Vexen Crabtree
Sam Snyder
Trick Slattery
Daniel Miessler
"Free will is an illusion. Our amazingly, wonderfully complex brains are
comprised of various cognitive systems cycling amongst themselves and
generating our thoughts, consciousness, choices and behaviour. These
systems and their effects all result from the mechanical, inorganic laws
of physics, over which we have no control."
- Crabtree
"The concept of free will is useless at best and damaging at worst.
Free will is often used to blame people for things beyond their control.
Observers often have cognitive biases that lead them to falsely and
cruelly assume that each individual is totally responsible for
everything that happens to them in life. Based on arguments from
neuroscience and physics, the incoherent idea of “free will” appears to
be obsolete. A person’s actions are driven by activities in the
brain. These activities result from neurobiological states involving
neurotransmitters, electrical activity, neuroanatomy, and other
biological systems. The state of the brain is determined by genetics,
childhood experiences, and the current environment. This biological
pathway does not leave room for free will.
Free will and personal responsibility are unscientific myths.
Biological research continues to overturn conventional ideas about free
will. Human behavior is controlled by biological and environmental
influences. A person’s actions are determined by his or her brain, which
is itself determined by genetic and environmental influences. Every
action is caused by a prior action going back to the beginning of the
universe."\
- Snyder
"The fact that people contrive free will based solely on the possibility
of indeterminism in the universe makes it of utmost importance that we
cover that base as well. And it turns out that not only is an
indeterministic universe as incompatible with free will than a
deterministic one, but it’s also much more of a detriment if any single
non-caused event has a direct say in what we think or act."
- Slattery
"Instead, events are moving through you, and you are being given the perception that you made a choice.
Neither quantum randomness nor consciousness provide an escape from
this. Randomness simply removes predictability from the universe; it
does not provide humans any additional control of outcomes. Similarly,
consciousness—since it does not offer the ability to control the
previous state of the universe or its laws—offers no escape either,
despite strong instinctual feelings to the contrary."
- Miessler