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Politics : Should God be replaced? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TigerPaw who wrote (7897)	9/11/2001 12:54:20 AM
From: Mitch Blevins	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28931

>>Having randomness in the future is necessary but not sufficient for free will. We could be fated to push randomly forward in time with no actual control over our actions. I think the additional necessary ingredient for free will is self awareness. Free will requires a feedback mechanism to examine past events and make a conscience effort to modify the future. That first of all requires a conscience. Conscience can be present in varying degrees from simple approach/avoidance behavior to great thinkers and planners. All these levels lead to free will, but at one extreme the will is so weak as to be hardly recognizable and at the other extreme are clear indications of future altering behavior.<< Now I'm even more confused. The way you describe "conscience" seems to me to be compatible with either determinism or randomness. I can easily imagine a feedback mechanism that examines past events and uses them to modify the future in a completely deterministic manner. So, I would agree with your that randomness is not sufficient for free will. But I would disagree with you that it is even necessary.