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What is Choice?

What is Choice?. Feraco Search for Human Potential 6 December 2010. First Ideas. 1. Choices determine actions 2. Actions have consequences 3. Consider consequences before acting 4. Make choices that improve your life 5. Make choices that improve the lives of friends / family members

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What is Choice?

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  1. What is Choice? Feraco Search for Human Potential 6 December 2010

  2. First Ideas • 1. Choices determine actions • 2. Actions have consequences • 3. Consider consequences before acting • 4. Make choices that improve your life • 5. Make choices that improve the lives of friends / family members • 6. Make choices that benefit your society / environment

  3. Fundamental Assumptions • These teachings rely on the assumption that we live in a universe in which choices matter, in which free will reigns supreme • Obviously, you don’t have to choose to breathe, or to make your heart beat at a certain rate • Those things are just unconscious responses to stimuli • That, however, is why we think choices have value • It’s what allows the “actor” (i.e., the person making the decision) to do something that exceeds/differs from an automatic response • This makes us worth more than our machines • But what if we’re working with incorrect assumptions?

  4. Universal Causality • Universal causality (abbreviated as “UC,” and also called “determinism”) questions those assumptions • UC proponents assert that every effect has a cause, which is in turn the effect of another cause • One wonders what the original “cause” was! • Because cause/effect sequences aren’t isolated, they bleed into one another continuously • Hence the “universal” in UC • Therefore, everything that occurs (including every “choice”) simply represents the inevitable after-effect of some seen/unseen cause

  5. UC Continued • If that’s the case, UC proponents continue, we actors aren’t making choices • We’re simply vessels for cause/effect delivery, the means by which the universe maintains itself • We’re deceiving ourselves if we believe our “choices” allow us to do something other than we were “meant” to do through cause and effect • This was Einstein’s world-view

  6. The Deity Argument • The deity in question is omnipotent and omniscient (all-powerful and all-seeing), which makes said deity infallible • As an all-seeing being, it sees the future – and as an infallible being, it sees it unerringly • But since the deity can’t possibly be wrong about the future, we are only capable of what it already sees, and can’t possibly do otherwise

  7. The Logic Argument • This argument rests on the Excluded Middle and Noncontradiction Laws • The former states that absolutes exist for every proposition • Either P or Not P is true, with no middle ground (hello, Baselines!) • The latter merely states that P and Not P can’t logically be true at the same time

  8. The Logic Argument Cont’d • Let our proposition (P) be “Sean, you’re going to fail your final tomorrow.” • He either will or won’t; obviously, he can’t fail and pass simultaneously • If P is a true statement, nothing that happens between now and tomorrow will stop him from failing • If P is untrue…well, nothing that between now and tomorrow will stop him from succeeding

  9. The Logic Argument Cont’d • It looks like Sean has two “options” • Either he’ll pass, or he’ll fail • However, we’ve already established that only one can be true • Therefore, one of the “options” is necessarily false – a fake choice • Since only one of the options is really present, Sean is powerless to choose the other • In order to be free, you have to have choices – and Sean doesn’t really have them • Scary!

  10. So Free Will Doesn’t Exist? Thanks for Ruining Monday… • Not necessarily! People have arguments for free will as well • For the “deity” argument, we assume the being can perfectly see the things it controls • Because it knows its creations, it can accurately predict any possible choice one could make in response to a given situation…but that’s exactly why it can still grant us free will

  11. The Chess Player • Think of a great chess player • He sees the endgame, predicts the actions of the other player, and brings about the steps to make that endgame real • But he doesn’t need to absolutely control the actions of the other player (move his pieces) in order to make it happen • “We are responsible human beings, not blind automatons; persons, not puppets. By endowing us with freedom, God relinquished a measure of his own sovereignty and imposed certain limitations upon himself.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

  12. What About Sean? • As for the “logic” scenario, let’s say that Sean really, really doesn’t want to fail his final • Let’s also say he’s “destined” to pass. (Whew.) • Does this really mean he has no choice? • After all, there are different ways to pass • Sean can study alone, study with friends, speak with his instructor (always a good idea), or even cheat (tsk tsk) • In any case, Sean still has choices within his outcome! • You know you’re going to eat, but you don’t necessarily know what you’ll eat – and that decision could very well be yours after all! • Is that the definition of free will?

  13. Arguments Favoring Free Will • As previously stated, determinists argued that your only free actions are ones you do without cause • But since the Ds believe in UC, everything has a cause – so, in short, you can’t do anything freely • Indeterminists also argue that your only free actions are ones you do without cause – “uncaused” free actions • However, they say, we’re obviously free, so why buy into any argument that tries to convince that what you know to be true isn’t – especially since UC isn’t really a scientific principle? • I’m going to be honest: I don’t like the incurious attitude of “Well, this is obvious, so I’m going to ignore everything to the contrary”…but your mileage may vary

  14. Arguments Favoring Free Will • Compatibilists argue that free acts can be taken as long as their cause lies in the inner state of the person – a desire, an intention, etc. • Free will, in essence, lines up with UC nicely – because our inner choices/causes determine our will • Finally, agents argue that free acts are caused by agents (i.e., people) • UC exists, in that every event has a cause – but not every cause is an event itself • Some things have very short causal histories – not every event has a seemingly infinite number of causes linking to it

  15. Argh!!! Does It Exist? Just Tell Me! Please? • No. • (I can’t tell you. What makes you think I know?) • But the Choice vs. Destiny discussion is worth having, and not just because it doesn’t have a pre-determined (pre-destined???) conclusion • These questions force us to evaluate just how we wish to go through life – not simply whether we can decide what we do, but whether we live while doing so • After all…is it possible to be passively happy?

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