this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2024
7 points (81.8% liked)

Ask Lemmygrad

670 readers
31 users here now

A place to ask questions of Lemmygrad's best and brightest

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Regardless of if it's practical to live that way in daily life, the world seems pretty determined. Everything happens because a vast amount of interactions between infinite factors causes it to. You can't really say you choose between things as many influences have been taken in by you and many things have affected your psychological state. Has everything been practically decided by the big bang? Now, this is not to say we can know everything or predict the future, but we know what's likely. Socialism or extinction may be inevitable, but we don't know yet. Socialism can only happen if people keep fighting, regardless. People will be convinced or principled or not. Science seems to agree with this, and only few, like the wrong Sartre would propose we have ultimate free will. So are there any arguments against determinism? I know there is a saying that you're freer when you recognize how your freedom is restricted, and that recognition may make your actions better, but isn't there ultimately no freedom?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

IIRC our DNA operates on such a small scale that quantum uncertainty comes in to play. There's no hidden variables that predetermine the order and density and dispersion of chemicals and chemical reactions. Instead there can only be a set of probabilities as to how DNA can be reshuffled.

That's not free will, though, just indeterminism.

[–] QueerCommie@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's still determined, just randomly.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

No? It's literally undetermined, as in, the previous conditions of the system do not determine the outcomes and only give a range of probabilities.

Indeterminism is not determinism by definition.

[–] QueerCommie@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I suppose, it depends on your definition. It's certainly not a point for free will.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Well yeah, that's what I said in my original comment. Indeterminism is actually more unsettling to me than determinism tbh