Diana_P is offline Diana_P Post #1  September 6,2011, 2:43pm
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We don’t get to choose our parents, our genetic gifts, our looks or our gender. We don’t get to choose the time period in which we are born or the influences in our life. If the construct of our reality exists before we are born and is not of our making or choosing how relevant are the choices we make within that construct?

Is deciding between having toast or cereal for breakfast an exercise in free will?

If your parents are actors and you grow up in show business is your desire to be an actor really your choice?

Does free will really exist or is it just another illusion we entertain to make us feel as though we have some control over our lives?
 
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Diana_P is offline Diana_P Post #2  September 9,2011, 4:18pm
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Okay, I’ll go first!

How can we be responsible for where the boat lands if we didn’t put the boat in the water?

Whether you think your existence is a result of God or evolution I find that an interesting question.

My Christian faith says that life is a precious gift and we should be grateful. My cynical side says it is difficult to be thankful for a gift you didn’t ask for especially when it came with strings attached.

I’m pretty sure that except for those in favor most of us would have chosen to be born into different life circumstances if such a thing were actually possible. Who wouldn’t want to be born with the intelligence or talent to insure success, love, and happiness?

Of course, my Grandmother’s philosophy is that your life is what you make it. When life hands you lemons make lemonade! I realize that some people thrive in adversity but I have never been one to believe that you have to know what bitterness is before you can appreciate sweetness.

For me free will is mostly an illusion because no one here designed the stage. Nor do we get to choose our supporting actors. Nope! We’ve just got to get up there with no script and improvise in a reality or “play” if you will that none of us wrote.

Albeit, the happiest people seem to be the ones whose desires align well with the construct they were born in. If your parents were actors and you decide you want to be an actor there is a darn good chance that you will succeed as well as find happiness. But is acting really your choice? What would you have chosen if your parents did something else?
 
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llw11 is offline llw11 Post #3  September 10,2011, 10:19am
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the more i say "free will" the less i think we have it and the more i'm confused by it. how would you even define free will? every decision we make has a "consequence" of some kind; even the smallest ones. there will always be something external that will influence every decision we make. if we choose apples over oranges we do so most likely because we like the taste or texture better but on the other hand we lose out on the vitamin C of the oranges. we never had control of the taste or the fact that vitamin C exists in the orange and not the apple. we also didn't have any more control over that than we did over the fact that we simply liked the apples better.

with regards to religion, not only did we not choose which family we were born into, but we also don't choose if we believe it or not. we have less control than we think we do. and why is free will so important anyway? and why is it even a good thing?
 
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Diana_P is offline Diana_P Post #4  September 10,2011, 9:07pm
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llw11 wrote :
the more i say "free will" the less i think we have it and the more i'm confused by it. how would you even define free will? every decision we make has a "consequence" of some kind; even the smallest ones. there will always be something external that will influence every decision we make. if we choose apples over oranges we do so most likely because we like the taste or texture better but on the other hand we lose out on the vitamin C of the oranges. we never had control of the taste or the fact that vitamin C exists in the orange and not the apple. we also didn't have any more control over that than we did over the fact that we simply liked the apples better.

with regards to religion, not only did we not choose which family we were born into, but we also don't choose if we believe it or not. we have less control than we think we do. and why is free will so important anyway? and why is it even a good thing?
Why is free will important? Why is free will a good thing? These are both very good questions.
 
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Creostone is offline Creostone Post #5  September 12,2011, 4:49pm
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hmm.
Last edited by Creostone; September 13,2011 at 4:50pm.
 
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harnomygirl is offline harnomygirl Post #6  September 12,2011, 7:31pm
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...
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hermes01 is offline hermes01 Post #7  September 17,2011, 8:34am
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'Do WE have free will'??

Who is 'we'....who are 'we'?

Are we the soul or the body that the soul inhabits?

The soul may indeed 'choose' the body.....time...gender...religion....good or evil...

Does 'GOD'....whatever that means ......have FREE WILL?

If so...for what reason? IF God is eternal....then there is NO MOVEMENT...There is no need for any will at all.

ALL...............simply......IS

(Or maybe not)
 
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Creostone is offline Creostone Post #8  September 28,2011, 9:13pm
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“If God is all-knowing and He knows our future, then how is that free will?”

God knows the future of what the free-will creatures choose. Free will does not stop becoming free just because God knows what will happen. For example, I know that my daughter will choose to eat a chocolate cake over carrots. If I were to set them both before her I know which one she will choose. This is not taking away the freedom of my child. Likewise, for God to know what a person will choose does not mean that the person has no freedom to make the choice. It simply means that God knows what the person will choose. This is necessarily so since God knows all things (1 John 3:20).
 
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Creostone is offline Creostone Post #9  September 28,2011, 9:13pm
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“If God is all-knowing and He knows our future, then how is that free will?”

God knows the future of what the free-will creatures choose. Free will does not stop becoming free just because God knows what will happen. For example, I know that my daughter will choose to eat a chocolate cake over carrots. If I were to set them both before her I know which one she will choose. This is not taking away the freedom of my child. Likewise, for God to know what a person will choose does not mean that the person has no freedom to make the choice. It simply means that God knows what the person will choose. This is necessarily so since God knows all things (1 John 3:20).
 
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llw11 is offline llw11 Post #10  September 29,2011, 4:55pm
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Creostone wrote :
“If God is all-knowing and He knows our future, then how is that free will?”

God knows the future of what the free-will creatures choose. Free will does not stop becoming free just because God knows what will happen. For example, I know that my daughter will choose to eat a chocolate cake over carrots. If I were to set them both before her I know which one she will choose. This is not taking away the freedom of my child. Likewise, for God to know what a person will choose does not mean that the person has no freedom to make the choice. It simply means that God knows what the person will choose. This is necessarily so since God knows all things (1 John 3:20).
first of all, you don't now with the same kind of certainty that a god would. you THINK you know what she'll do but she may surprise you and have the carrots. god knows with 100% certainty but either way this is irrelevant.

my question remains: what is so good about conditional free will?

my second issue is: if you know with certainty that a person will fail at life when you create them, why create them anyway?
 
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