Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith  If our views basically agree, I'm afraid that doesn't come across in your blog entry.
Your blog entry makes it sound like your context is entirely out of your control.
It also fails to mention that you control the filter to your context. |
While you can control the borders, filter, etc., of your context to some extent, how often do you deliberately choose each and every environment and people you are going to encounter on your day to day life?
I touched on my view of free will at the end - "
I like to think it’s (laziness / you behaviors / your views) a bit of both. Your environment creates who you are, but you actually do have some way in the realm of free will and thinking." The blog entry was written more context-driven to make a strong point and get people to think and debate. (Success!)
While I don't think you have 100%, complete free will to do whatever you want, I think you have the power to exercise choices in the realm of your context. Context tells you "these things are acceptable behavior, these things are not acceptable behavior." You choose - with your free will - what to act out on, based on your context. Context tells you that casual drug use is okay? You'll probably engage in that behavior. Context tells you X? You'll start believing and acting out X. (It's kind of basic when you think about it - why don't parents want their kids to hang around the wrong crowd?)
It's something interesting to think about. If you had no context, no rules, no boundaries, would you still have 100% free will, or would other forces pull you to take certain actions? How much free will do you have in a given context? How far can you push the boundaries of certain contexts? How do you decide on what contexts to put yourself in? How much influence does a given context have over your life? So many questions!