Timeline for What magic system would empower peace? (Retaining free will)
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
7 events
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| Aug 18, 2021 at 13:53 | comment | added | msouth | I don't think that is a very useful idea of free will. A person living in a 10x10 cell in solitary confinement has, certainly, the free will to think (although they will almost certainly lose that to a great extent), but their free will is definitely curtailed by imposed physical constraints. Maybe I should say "effective free will"--whatever you term it, it's the only free will that matters except in the most esoteric sense. | |
| Aug 18, 2021 at 5:13 | comment | added | Dallium | @msouth No, no, free will is binary. You either have it, or you do not. Its the "power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion." Changing the choices that are available doesn't abrogate free will. | |
| Aug 18, 2021 at 4:18 | comment | added | msouth | We don't think of it like that, because physics isn't something someone imposes on us, but it certainly limits what we can do with our free will. And if a god is tweaking the physics to make it harder to do X or Y it's even clearer that it is an imposition on will. I think. In every sense that matters, if our current physics allowed me to teleport at will, I would have "freer will" even if it's just the physics that's letting me have it. If the physics of our world changed such that you could not move more than 2 miles per hour, I think that you would consider yourself way less free. | |
| Aug 18, 2021 at 3:28 | history | edited | Dallium | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Aug 18, 2021 at 3:27 | comment | added | Dallium | @msouth No to both. A person can choose to tell a falsehood, its just that no one will believe them. This is no different than bad liars. And as to supressing your empathy, thats my point. You can't turn your senses off. You can close your eyes or cover your ears, but you can't just stop accepting input. Tele-empathy is another sense. In the real world, I would prefer to be able to fly under my own power. The laws of the universe preclude this. That doesnt abrogate my free will any more than a girl I like refusing to date me does. | |
| Aug 18, 2021 at 3:19 | comment | added | msouth | Lying is an act of free will (in our current universe). Isn't making lying impossible violating the "don't violate free will" constraint? Similar question about automatic empathy--I'm pretty sure I could use my will, right now, to suppress my empathy. In a hypothetical world where I could not do this I would lose the free will to make that choice. (I'm not just trying to be negative or pick on your answer here, btw--I just think it's really hard to come up with a way to change behavior that doesn't impact free will.) | |
| Aug 18, 2021 at 3:10 | history | answered | Dallium | CC BY-SA 4.0 |