Q: If one takes what you are saying as permission to say whatever comes into your head, without taking responsibility for the (very possibly) hurtful effect it might have on others -- not because of their baggage, but because of your insensitivity to other people's feelings, then I think that's very wrong.
I was sharing with a friend that my experience of forgiveness and or resentment were not something conjured up, that they occur. No effort of will explained it for me. This was foreign and contrary to them. Anyway your take on things really does help make me feel a little less adrift.
Indeed - spot on Robert. It seems that society's mechanisms are geared towards blaming and rewarding, a macro version of our individual conditioning...so the truth of "deciding" is radical indeed. Many thanks as always.
Profound indeed. I often wonder why / how I took some decisions, major ones. They just slipped out of my mouth / mind… since deepening my meditation practice I realise those decisions were part of a story line… till such time as I have started revisiting my “story”….
Robert, I suggest a book, Determined by Robert Sapolsky. While his conclusions will be nothing new to you, he artfully and humorously dismantles all philosophical contentions that there is Will or Choice using a panoply of neurobiological, anthropological, and mathematical sources with hardly a mention of “spiritual” argument—I believe the word Self came up just once to my count. His ax to grind seems to be advocating a complete overhaul of the criminal justice system on the basis of the lack of individuals’ “guilty” agency. See what you think.
Whether an apparent decision is causally predetermined is one question, and whether the image of the self as a coherent unity is factual or illusory is a different question.
I get that the self is not a coherent unity, with a little homunculus, as you say, calling the shots. Given that, "decisions" do get made, but they are made by the brain which has been influenced by those countless factors you mentioned, many of which are subconscious and thus outside our ability to fathom.
But the question of whether events, including brain states, are entirely causally predetermined is a different question. Suppose determinism is not true as some authorities have argued, that still does not mean that the feeling of being a coherent "myself" with the power to choose and decide is anything more than illusory.
Robert thanks for a great post. You have a clarity that simply cuts straight to the bone. Very grateful that I came upon your books. Thanks.
I was sharing with a friend that my experience of forgiveness and or resentment were not something conjured up, that they occur. No effort of will explained it for me. This was foreign and contrary to them. Anyway your take on things really does help make me feel a little less adrift.
Indeed - spot on Robert. It seems that society's mechanisms are geared towards blaming and rewarding, a macro version of our individual conditioning...so the truth of "deciding" is radical indeed. Many thanks as always.
Love you, man!
Profound indeed. I often wonder why / how I took some decisions, major ones. They just slipped out of my mouth / mind… since deepening my meditation practice I realise those decisions were part of a story line… till such time as I have started revisiting my “story”….
Succinct and profound. Bravo.
Thank you, Simon.
Robert, I suggest a book, Determined by Robert Sapolsky. While his conclusions will be nothing new to you, he artfully and humorously dismantles all philosophical contentions that there is Will or Choice using a panoply of neurobiological, anthropological, and mathematical sources with hardly a mention of “spiritual” argument—I believe the word Self came up just once to my count. His ax to grind seems to be advocating a complete overhaul of the criminal justice system on the basis of the lack of individuals’ “guilty” agency. See what you think.
Thanks, Jonathan. I've read it.
It seems that a decision is made in a given moment, but that decision is basically pre-determined.
Hi, David--
Whether an apparent decision is causally predetermined is one question, and whether the image of the self as a coherent unity is factual or illusory is a different question.
I get that the self is not a coherent unity, with a little homunculus, as you say, calling the shots. Given that, "decisions" do get made, but they are made by the brain which has been influenced by those countless factors you mentioned, many of which are subconscious and thus outside our ability to fathom.
Yes. That's the point of this Q&A.
But the question of whether events, including brain states, are entirely causally predetermined is a different question. Suppose determinism is not true as some authorities have argued, that still does not mean that the feeling of being a coherent "myself" with the power to choose and decide is anything more than illusory.