Re: Mind's Eye Freewill - A useful myth?

By the way it is nice to be back. I have been in the jungle for the
last twelve months or so. I shall have access to the net for maybe the
next six months

On Jan 6, 11:03 am, Eman Abdulla <emana...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I think there are two aspects to be addressed in your post, one is the
> assumption that free will among other concepts is a myth, the other is
> the value or lack thereof of such myth and whether humanity can ever
> abandon this notion without serious consequences to the very essence
> of civilization and human society. As for the concept of free will, I
> think that science is ibeginning to shed light on the indeterministic
> aspect of nature and reality based on the quantum theory. Many are now
> developing theories about the quantum brain that affects matter
> through consciousness.
> As for the value of such notion, I doubt that humanity will ever agree
> to abandon it not just because of its practical value in providing
> motivation and driving action, but because it seems to be embedded at
> the very core of the collective human psyche, maybe for a reason that
> is not only social and but also natural.
>
> On 1/5/12, malcymo <malc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Humanity has always, for some reason, felt the need to support his
> > world view with a series of myths commonly termed beliefs in order to,
> > in some way, justify its behaviour. We must not, however, believe that
> > these myths are always spiritual or mystical in nature. Many are not.
>
> > The legitimacy of a myth depends on many features. Umberto Eco in his
> > excellent tome 'Foucault's Pendulum' quietly draws our attention to
> > the requirements needed for the creation of a robust myth and there is
> > no doubt that within most religious and philosophical beliefs the
> > required elements are found.
>
> > Secular myths, however, are somewhat harder to pin down. This may be
> > because they are founded little more than intuition. They are
> > therefore difficult to identify as myths in the first place. Also,
> > such myths can often serve a very useful purpose.
>
> > Let us take as an example the idea of freewill. The idea is so
> > embedded in our psych that most of us believe it to be a reality. Even
> > so, an in depth study soon reveals the fragility of the idea. So
> > fragile is it that philosophers have argued over the question of
> > determinism v free will for generations; time which could have been
> > more usefully employed on other ventures. Indeed some eminent
> > philosophers believe that free will and determinism can sit
> > legitimately together – the so called Such is the nature of a myth.
>
> > We can only suppose that such an idea must appear rational to us in
> > order to give it legitimacy. After all, our ideas of virtuous
> > behaviour, responsibility and justice are founded on the idea of free
> > will; that we are responsible for our actions and must accept our
> > responsibilities. Yet, there is no doubt that free will defies the
> > tenets embodied in modern physics, the idea of cause and effect. It
> > seems to be extremely difficult for us to accept that some things just
> > are.
>
> > I am interested in this dilemma because if we eventually discover, if
> > we have not already, that determinism is beyond dispute how should we
> > react? How could we possibly recreate our society to live with such a
> > 'truth'?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -