- Jan 1, 2005
- 772
- 47
You think you made the conscious decision to enter this thread, don't you? You did not. Your sub-conscious calculated that entering this thread was the most desirable decision based on compulsions (chemicals in your brain) that you have no control over. You might have had the compulsion to log off, you might have had another compulsion to enter another thread, the strongest compulsion (the one to enter this thread) one. Your sub-conscious made this calculation nanoseconds before your conscious mind thinks it decided to do so and this is not a philosophical stance, neurological testing has proven this.
The conscious mind is a product of the brain, an inanimate, physical organ and thus, is subject to the decisions that this unconscious, biological 'computer' (the brain) calculates. The conscious mind can no more behave independently of the brain then a neuron can, both the individual neuron and the neurological process that is (or causes) the conscious mind are a part of a larger, unconscious central nervous system.
You (the conscious mind) cannot be held responsible for any decision you've ever made in your entire life. For the benefit of society and even themselves, people need to be held accountable for their behaviour, of course, but the fact that free will is an illusion lends support to the idea of rehabilitation over punishment. When a man steals, he should be incarcerated, not for the sake of punishing the conscious mind but for the sake of conditioning the sub-conscious mind against stealing. Anti-social people are sick, they need help not punishment. Emotionally, it's difficult for me to digest this but intellectually, it makes perfect sense. We are animals, if even the most intelligent and self-aware non-human animals like dolphins or chimpanzees are usually not credited with 'free will', why should we be?
The conscious mind is a product of the brain, an inanimate, physical organ and thus, is subject to the decisions that this unconscious, biological 'computer' (the brain) calculates. The conscious mind can no more behave independently of the brain then a neuron can, both the individual neuron and the neurological process that is (or causes) the conscious mind are a part of a larger, unconscious central nervous system.
You (the conscious mind) cannot be held responsible for any decision you've ever made in your entire life. For the benefit of society and even themselves, people need to be held accountable for their behaviour, of course, but the fact that free will is an illusion lends support to the idea of rehabilitation over punishment. When a man steals, he should be incarcerated, not for the sake of punishing the conscious mind but for the sake of conditioning the sub-conscious mind against stealing. Anti-social people are sick, they need help not punishment. Emotionally, it's difficult for me to digest this but intellectually, it makes perfect sense. We are animals, if even the most intelligent and self-aware non-human animals like dolphins or chimpanzees are usually not credited with 'free will', why should we be?