Quote:
Originally Posted by RallyMcnally  You have to bypass the mind-control, programming, influences, and get rid of the entity attachments to find free will. |
Would you agree, then, that free will is the expression of a consciousness that has forgotten the ego?
Quote:
Originally Posted by JMan One unpredictablility that guides many people: spiritual influence. |
But
how does it guide people?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary Then it isn't an intellectual question of whether we have Free Will. The question is whether we will fight to get it back. |
But if free will is the capacity to make
choice itself, does a person without free will have the option to fight back?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Interesting Ian I really want to know what determinism means. |
Determinism is the philosophy that the future is determinable. More clearly, that it is possible to determine what the future holds based on events of the past. Thus, our ignorance is not a problem of capability, but rather a problem of information and processing.
According to Wikipedia, there are two types of determinists: those who believe that free will is incompatible with determinism, and those who believe it isn't. I am of the latter camp. To quote from Wikipedia,
"The compatibilist definition of free will states that free will is not the ability to choose as an agent independent of prior cause, but as an agent who is not forced to make a certain choice."
Alternatively, InJoy's position is remarkably similar to what Wikipedia calls Libertarian:
"Libertarianism suggests that we actually do have free will, that it is incompatible with determinism, and that therefore the future is not determined."
Article quoted was:
Compatibilism and incompatibilism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia as found through the Determinism article.