Quote:
Originally Posted by gold.n.god
example:
you can choose to respond, or you can choose not to.
but according to you, only one of those options is really available to you. That's an example of an option that can't be chosen
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the point here is that it only appears to be an option, but, in fact, it is not. we simply don't have the means to accurately predict the actual outcome, so we come up with those most likely. you could respond to the thread, eat a cheeseburger, go play with your zune, but we don't think of you being able to flap your arms and fly away. that doesn't seem to be an option. however, if we take this seriously, it looks like no other action other than the one you took was ever possible. the issue is that we don't know enough of the determining factors.
think of it this way. if you're playing pool, you can't be sure if the ball you're shooting at will go into the pocket or not, so you think of both outcomes as equally possible. however, once the shot has been taken, you understand that the outcome you witnessed was the only one that could occur given the circumstances. that is, if you hit the ball on the left side, the ball will move to the right. it can't move to the left. once it goes to the right, it does whatever physical laws dictate it must do.
well, you're made up of a bunch of physical stuff that is determined by physical laws as well. in the same way the ball didn't have a "choice" to move a different direction you don't have a choice to do anything differently either. it isn't the case that once the ball was hit on the left there was an "option" for it to move left. on the contrary, there was no possible action other than the one that occurred. our ignorance of all the relevant factors doesn't change that situation. just because you aren't aware of the necessity of some outcome doesn't make it any less necessary.
do you get what i'm saying? neurons in your brain don't get activated unless neighboring neurons provide the proper stimulus. they're like billiard balls getting moved. a ball doesn't move without getting hit by another ball (or moved by some other general force like wind, etc), and your neurons don't activate without affecting and being affected by neighboring neurons. in that respect there is only one possible outcome, and there is no other option. we just can't predict the outcome because of how massively complicated the system is.
for anyone hoping to come back with issues of quantum randomness i'll simply say that those events aren't actually "random," but we need not have that discussion at all. if events were completely random there would still be no room for any choice to be made, and we would be forced to admit that, however improbable, there is always the possibility that, rather than being moved toward the right, the billiard ball in the previous scenario could simply turn into a chicken. randomness is random, and, hence, it gets us nothing.