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 Post subject: [Title Under Review]
PostPosted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 4:09 pm 
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This is something that I started some time ago and that I would put at the top of my (long) list of things to come back to. I'm hoping that if I share it I'll be motivated to work on it more and also receive some feedback. Thanks for checking it out. :}

Note: The formatting is a bit wonky because I had to edit it for the limitations of the forum/readability.

“God does not play dice with the universe.”
- Albert Einstein

Preface

There exists a common misconception that the notions of free will and predestination are mutually exclusive, and that in a world where free will exists, predestination cannot, and vice versa. This is false.

Consider the following:

Move your arm.

Why did you move your arm? “Well,” you say, “because you told me to.” In a way, that’s correct. The black marks on this paper make up a series of symbols that, when combined in the proper order, convey to you the idea that I want you to move you arm, and you, being an open-minded and agreeable individual and having no particular aversion to arm movement, did as you were told.

Why are you an open-minded and agreeable individual? “Well,” you say, “that’s just who I am.” Perhaps you have a genetic predisposition to open-mindedness and agreeability. Perhaps you were raised to be this way. Perhaps some major, life changing event caused you to overhaul your personality and say, “You know what? I’m going to start being open-minded and agreeable!” Regardless, your genetics and past experiences combine to make you who you are today, and who you are is what influences every choice you make. Did you have any say in the matter of your genetic makeup? In how you were raised? In whether or not that life-changing event occurred? Unless your parents were progressive to a fault, the answer to all three questions is likely no. So did you really make the decision to move your arm, or was it already made for you? In hindsight, it’s certainly easy to see that you could have not moved your arm. You could have made the conscious decision to stay still. But you didn’t. You moved your arm, and you were always going to.

“But wait,” you remark, “you said that predestination and free will are real. Didn’t you just prove that free will doesn’t exist?” It’s easy to see why one might think this is the case, but the fact of the matter is that destiny is dependent on the free will of humans to make choices. Every day, we decide what to eat, what to wear, where to go, who to talk to and what to say. It’s obvious that these are all choices we make, it’s just that an omniscient being already knows exactly what we are going to decide, and, in retrospect, it’s clear even to us that we were always going to make those decisions.

We all have the free will to do whatever we like, but every choice we make has reasons behind it. No one in the history of mankind has ever made a decision at random. We are explorers making our way down an unbeaten but predetermined path.

My intention is to break from that path.

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 Post subject: Re: [Title Under Review]
PostPosted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 10:12 pm 
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you can't.
I agree with you, our environment/past experiences do change us.
I also believe that we have a free will and that a predestination can happen. I put it all in fate.
We make our decisions based on our experiences and our knowledge. This predetermined knowledge is not limiting our free will, but it affects it.
Let's say we have to newborn babes. They are exactly the same in every way at birth
One is subject to the real world. One is subject to watching only Jake Paul videos everyday bro.
They would be different. Even if they looked exactly the same, they would be more defined on how they talk or how they act.
It would seem to be so that they are defined by their inside or mentally.
That kind of seems a little off-topic sorry. I just wanted to try to prove that we are identified by our mental image or what is on the inside.

I think i make too many assumptions on identifying oneself.

Alright back to free-will. With my study above, we have two different people. With two different environments. Oh yes, their environments change them. Make them different on their decisions.

That's the thing. I will say it once, i will say it again. Our environment defines who we are. It may not outright make our decisions, but our environment defines our identity.

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 Post subject: Re: [Title Under Review]
PostPosted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 11:22 pm 
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This is the rest of what I have so far. Hopefully more will come soon.

Chapter One

I was sitting in the back row of a psychology lecture when I conducted my first experiment.

It was a large class by relative measure, around sixty people packed into one of my school’s six lecture halls. It was my third year at the 3,000-student institution, and I hated it more every day. I was on track to receive a degree in chemical engineering, for which my parents were immensely proud and which I also hated. I was taking an intro to psychology course as a junior because I did not hate it. Still, throughout the semester I had taken to sitting farther and farther toward the back of the room until I was all the way up in the eight row. There, it was easier for me to tune in and out of the lecture at my leisure, foregoing the uninteresting parts in favor of my own thoughts.

On this particular day, as my professor went on about something I had deemed unworthy of my attention, I decided to attempt to put into motion my plan. The idea had first come to me a few weeks ago in that very class, but it took me a couple weeks to figure out how to execute it and another to work up the courage to do it. I was just about certain that it wouldn’t work and never would. Even as I stood up, I doubted the sensibility of my plan. This doesn’t make any sense, I thought. But that was precisely the point. I checked my watch. Ten minutes left in class. It was now or never.

So, I grabbed my things, stepped into the aisle, and tumbled down six of the room’s eight stairs before finally losing momentum and coming to a halt. I felt dull pain all over, but nothing felt seriously injured. That wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do.

As I lay, sprawled on my back on the second step, my belongings perfectly scattered around me. I realized no one was making a sound. Had my tumble been too obviously fake? I wanted to look around, but that wasn’t the plan. My perception of the time that had passed was probably distorted by the awkwardness of the situation, but it had to have been at least ten seconds before I heard Dr. Dunbar speak.

“Are you alright, Ben?”

I did my best to sound upset. “I-I think so, yeah.”

I looked up and saw him making his way toward me. “Let me give you a hand.”

Perfect.

By my estimation, there were at least fifty different worthless papers spread across five different steps. A girl at the end of the row also began to help as I got to my feet and slowly began picking things up. I thanked them both quietly and shove the papers back into my bag as they handed them to me. Once we’d cleaned up my mess, I hastily made my way out the door. As I was leaving, Professor Dunbar looked at his watch. “Well class, I suppose we’ll cut it short today since I don’t have time to explain the next slides. Have a great weekend.”

I couldn’t help but smirk as the other students filed out of the classroom behind me, but just as soon as I’d succeeded in delaying Dr. Dunbar’s lecture, I realized I had absolutely no way of knowing whether or not the experiment had truly been a success. As I made the walk home, I tried to tackle this issue.

My actions had an effect on the class, but how can I know if they were not always intended to do so? That lecture was always going to get cut short. I was always going to fall, wasn’t I? This is so *(censored)* frustrating.

“Hey Ben.”

I looked up and saw my roommate, Tom. “Hey,” I replied. As he walked past me, I turned around. He made a sharp left shortly after passing me to head towards the art building and away from the lecture hall that housed my psychology course. Had my class not been cut short, I almost certainly wouldn’t have passed him on my way back to the apartment.

The butterfly effect, I thought. A butterfly flaps its wings, and it starts to rain. A kid falls in class, and his friend walks by him minutes later. But was that butterfly not always going to flap its wings, and was I not always going to fall? I kicked a rock in frustration. Maybe I’m just not thinking big enough.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my apartment key as I walked up the porch steps. Once inside, I pulled out my notebook and started to write.

Quote:
Update
October 16th, 2015

I have come to the realization that nothing I’m doing makes any sense. And not in the good way. Fate knows what plans I haven’t even made yet, and it laughs at me for trying to fool it. The omnipotent can't be fooled. But I can’t give up. I know that there has to be some way to zig when I’m supposed to zag. Or maybe if I simply zig hard enough it will be enough, even if I’m supposed to zig.


I paused here for a moment to think before continuing to write.

Quote:
I realize my reasoning behind conducting this experiment may not make much sense. To be frank, I don’t have much in the way of reasons outside of curiosity and opportunity.


I hesitated once more before putting my pen back to the paper.

Quote:
I’m also not sure what sort of implications there might be should I manage to succeed. I’ll have to think on this.

______________________________________________

@kfpc some good points. It's food for thought, certainly.

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 Post subject: Re: [Title Under Review]
PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2017 12:12 am 
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Hey hey, I remember this project :}

My only point of concern would be that Big Boi Ben comes across very edgelordy. Of course that may be the point... if so, good looks lol

Good writin as usual, JP c:

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 Post subject: Re: [Title Under Review]
PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2017 12:59 am 
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Powerprosfan31 wrote:
Hey hey, I remember this project :}

My only point of concern would be that Big Boi Ben comes across very edgelordy. Of course that may be the point... if so, good looks lol

Good writin as usual, JP c:

Ben is definitely a bit of a pretentious douche. He'll be put in his place soon enough. ;)

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