Quote:
Originally Posted by Nelson  Any supernatural force that would predetermine our fates would not force someone to be a criminal. |
AFAIK, the predestination argument is generally based on causality. As far as we can tell, we're physically constructed of standard atoms, chemicals and energy (heat, electricity etc.). Therefore, our component parts are bound by the laws of physics, chemistry etc. The interactions of these parts are incredibly complex so creating an accurate model of a whole human being is currently beyond our knowledge and technology. But there's no reason to suspect that it's not possible. Which makes any human decision, at least theoretically, predictable.
In short, no supernatural forces are required - just that:
(a) human components obey the laws of nature; and
(b) laws of nature follow predictable cause->effect chains.
I tend to lean towards the 'illusion of free will' camp, but:
(a) for all practical intents and purposes it doesn't matter; and
(b) I'm happy to be proven wrong if someone can prove what Free Will is and why it doesn't follow the laws of causality[1].
[1] I've seen a theory that Free Will results from quantum structures that are not bound by causality. I'm not actually sure this is an improvement, since it's unclear on what basis a decision would be made. Are these structures just a random number generator, and if so, how is randomness any better than predestination? AFAIK, there is no evidence to support this theory, anyway.