Free Will

[synderon]

This post is coming a couple hours later than I intended it. I've been pretty caught up in playing FF VII lately. Also before I get into this I would like to say I don't really like to proof read the things I write, my grammar probably isn't the best, and I may at times arrange my thoughts in odd ways... so deal with it. I would also like to say

Comments

Free will and Personality traits

[silver_hand71]

I intend to convey another means of thinking about personality and free will in which the two interact. For the sake of expressing this new view, I will require that the reader accept that personality traits are, in fact, entirely determined by genetics and environment as Aaron presented in the initial post.

The system laid out in the initial post (which turns personality into a Complex series of If-Then-Else statements) is incomplete. The system in its current form does exist and is used to help make every decision, but it is merely a subsystem, and is capable of being over-ridden. This over-riding force will be called free will for the sake of my argument.

Each person has at least two driving forces, or motivations. I have labeled these motivations "best for others"(A1) and "best for self"(A2). These motivations lead to the conscious decisions that make up freewill.

Before any conscious decision, such as choosing to run naked in the snow, can be made, these motivations are tested against the situation. Is running in the snow in

Re: Free will and Personality traits

[hlangin]

I guess that the message of my post was not clear since you posted the idea of personality and free will being connected. I thought that I had said that personality does indeed influence decision making (aka free will) but does not entirely determine it. I do agree with free-will as being an over-riding force though...but perhaps in a different way. Free will is what allows us to choose which driving forces, influences, responsibilities, and traits to rely on. In some situations our personality does seem to dictate our decisions, but in most situations at least two or more of these are in conflict and it is our free will that prevents us from being stuck forever in a state of confusion or contradiction. (Not sure this makes sense or not...but I think that our ideas are at the very least similar if not expressed differently

Re: Free will and Personality traits

[silver_hand71]

From what you wrote there, and actually, from what I interpreted the first time, we are basically on the same page. Although you have pointed out a few things that I will do my best to clarify in the following

Re: Free will and Personality traits

[hlangin]

I agree with the existence of an objective good...just not on all the things that he claims are objectively good. :) So...I agree but disagree at the same time.

Thanks, you made a lot of your opinions clearer. I'm glad that you made it clear that they affect free will in separate ways and are not the same...makes quite a bit more sense.

Re: Free will and Personality traits

[synderon]

Perhaps motivation derives from both the self and something like Maslow's hierarchy of needs and they actually just overlap in someway. Or maybe the self is derived from this hierarchy, manifesting itself more and more as you go up each level.

Re: Free will and Personality traits

[mad_dog_bowers]

Isn't that from the book I am borrowing from you? i guess I should read that.

Re: Free will and Personality traits

[synderon]

These If-Then-Else statements of the self extends into the realm of the conflicts you describe. In the example of the soldier where he is faced with two extreme choices, each side is weighed within the self. If I understand you correctly, you are saying that this decision making "cruise control" ends when the things being weighed are too evenly matched. I agree with this although there is probably some way to explain it... some sort of random activity that occurs in the neocortex maybe. Perhaps in these cases where it's too close for a clear decision to be made, the one that gets made is always the one that had the correct thresholds met anyway. The decision only seemed difficult but in reality there was no other way for us to make it.

Re: Free will and Personality traits

[silver_hand71]

One might consider, opposite the extreme condition, what someone does if they are indifferent to something. What causes a person to make a choice when the answer is seemingly at random. Moreover, is a person capable of giving a truly random answer?

Re: Free will and Personality traits

[mad_dog_bowers]

"some sort of random activity that occurs in the neocortex maybe"

Hmm the exact example that came up while we were talking about it privately in fact.