Free will again (Humans)

by dhw, Monday, March 05, 2012, 18:35 (4645 days ago) @ romansh

ROMANSH: Bella, But it is possible to control what you choose to observe/focus on.
Is choosing what to control a thought?-BBELLA: I'm not sure what you are asking (and not sure you are asking me)? Can you expand on the question or ask it another way?-I am equally baffled, as your post was addressed to me. In my own post of 27 February I thought I'd answered all your questions concerning my definition of free will and was hoping to hear that you'd discarded your own! I later quoted BBella's admirable summing up, concerning meditation: "Thought can't be controlled. Only what you choose to focus on can be controlled." I regard that as valid in the more general context of the will, but the question of whether it's "free" still remains an open one for me, as I don't know to what extent my decisions are influenced by factors outside my control. But I had hoped that all this was clear from my earlier post.-Susan Blackmore's piece seems as superficial to me now as it did first time round. I expect most of us realized even when we were in our teens that there are different levels of consciousness, and that is indeed a source of sheer wonderment (how the heck could cells in the brain be aware of being aware?) ... but her article makes it seem as if she has never previously been aware of this fact!-However, it's not irrelevant to our discussion on free will. If we begin, say, with a desire that springs from the unconscious (BBella's "thought"), the first level will be our awareness of that desire. Then comes the decision as to whether or not we should give in to it. It's at this level of consciousness that the will comes into play, especially if it involves sacrifice: we make a conscious decision within the given constraints. Then comes our awareness of the fact that we are consciously making decisions, and so on.
 
Incidentally (nothing to do with free will), awareness of awareness can be extremely damaging. It's quite deadly, for instance, if you're an actor. You're playing a part. You're aware that you're playing a part (and you're aware of the other characters and the audience), but the moment you step outside yourself and become aware that you're aware that you're playing a part, you lose all naturalness. The audience will sense this, and you'll be looking for another job. The same process applies if you're walking down the street. You know you're walking down the street, but the moment someone turns a film camera on you, you'll be aware of being aware that you're walking down the street, and you may well forget how to walk naturally. For highly introvert people, the danger is that they will lose all spontaneity. I don't know why Susan Blackmore should think she's discovered something unusual, but I hope her students will learn to control how they switch from one level to another.