Free Will (The nature of a \'Creator\')

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Saturday, September 11, 2010, 12:44 (4969 days ago) @ dhw

I think this is a case of action preceeding understanding. I'll explain, but first, let me start by saying that I believe in free will. Second, let me say that I do not think humans excercise it.-Lets start by assuming that there are two types of choices, predictable, and unpredictable. A predictable choice is made when a person is reacting to influence, whatever influence that might be. If all the influences where known (i.e. personality, environment, history, etc) You could (and we do) predict the behavior of the person with a surprising degree of accuracy. This is because the person does NOT understand all of the influences, and for the moment, it is impossible for us to understand all of them due to a lack of knowledge. So, it could be said that predictable behavior, lack of free will, or the illusion of free will, is the result of action(choice) preceeding knowlege preceeding understanding, or at best, knowledge preceeding action preceeding understanding. The best case scenario here is that a person makes an independent choice, but is swayed by factors that are irresistable to them, like Einstein's analogy of them moon. If the moon understood gravity and inertia, and possessed some ability to affect its position(movement wise) it could choose several options. But not understanding gravity, it would consider it to be an unalterable state, and make choices that do not revolve around manipulating that gravity to its own ends.-Unpredictable action, or free will, by necessity must follow a different pattern, in which understanding preceeds the choice, and knowledge preceeds understanding. In this scenario, a person would know the inlfuencing factors, understand how/why/when and under what conditions these factors would affect them. Additionaly, because they fully understand the influencing factors, they would be able to choose apath that was antithetical to those influences, essentially removing the influence. The fact that full understanding allows the removal of influences that might normally be assumed as unalterable makes the action unpredictable. Particularly if the observer does not have the same understanding. That is true free will.