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From: rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (Rich Rosen)
Newsgroups: net.philosophy
Subject: Re: B.F. Skinner (and dead Greeks)
Message-ID: <834@pyuxn.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 9-Jul-84 10:33:27 EDT
Article-I.D.: pyuxn.834
Posted: Mon Jul  9 10:33:27 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 10-Jul-84 01:38:20 EDT
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Organization: Bell Communications Research, Piscataway N.J.
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> Now, suppose everything were determined. Since I don't really ``make
> decisions'' the quality of my hardware isn't all that significant.
> After all -- the cochroaches have been around a long time. Would anything
> as complicated as the human brain ever develop if there wasn't an 
> advantage in the making of free decisions? After all, if I just
> deliberated for an hour over whether or not to eat that berry that might
> be poisonous, and actually my body chemistry determined that I was
> going to deliberate for an hour and then decide to eat the berry
> I seem to be at a disadvantage with respect to those that wouldn't
> do the thinking and would just eat it -- if only because while engrossed
> in thought something might come along and eat me!

The survival advantage is in making reasoned deliberated decisions, not in
the (imagined?) making of "free" decisions.  The notion that one can "will"
an action seems to be solely a subjective notion.  Pursuing the already offered
example of eating when hungry.  One might put forth the scenario: what about
someone who "chooses" to eat when they're not hungry?  Is this person making
a "free will choice" to eat?  Or is it just a manifestation of learned
behavior that the person would like to "think" they are exercising "control"
over (e.g., a learned behavior pattern that food offers personal gratification
and self-satisfaction in the absence of human interaction and intimacy, thus
the person "chooses" to eat (??) ).  The "deliberating" is just as much a
biochemical process as the behaviors found in (supposedly) less self-conscious
"lower" animals.

> Personally, I think that both
> ``free will'' and ``mind'' are a result of the complexity of the
> brain -- higher level phenomenon than the squishy hardware, but only
> possible on complicated hardware of some sort. 

Why free will at all?  Isn't it just a subjective perspective that one has
about one's actions ("I *decided* to do that!!  That wasn't the result of
some chemical reactions!  That was *me* *deciding* and *willing*!").

[Laura, have you just recently returned from a prolonged absence or were
 links to your neck of the woods (or to mine FROM yours) just recently
 (re-)established/restored?]
-- 
WHAT IS YOUR NAME?			Rich Rosen
WHAT IS YOUR NET ADDRESS?		pyuxn!rlr
WHAT IS THE CAPITAL OF ASSYRIA?		I don't know that ...  ARGHHHHHHHH!