r/science • u/chrisdh79 • Oct 09 '24

Neuroscience Your Brain Changes Based on What You Did Two Weeks Ago | A workout or restless night from two weeks ago could still be affecting you—positively or negatively—today.

https://www.newsweek.com/brain-changes-neuroscience-exercise-sleep-health-two-weeks-1965107
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12

u/SiuSoe Oct 09 '24

does anyone still believe in free will?

18

u/supamario132 Oct 09 '24

The case for hard determinism gets stronger and stronger with every new thing we learn about the body

11

u/SiuSoe Oct 09 '24

after accepting there's no free will, everything's so much more clear to me like... everything's either determined or random, both of which we can't control! I don't know what I was thinking before.

2

u/flaming_burrito_ Oct 09 '24

I think the faulty assumption that people make is that the only part of you making decisions is the voice in your head, but every part of you is equally you. Technically, we’re all just big ass cell colonies that got really good at collaborating, somehow convinced ourselves that we are one whole, and then developed a sense of self and had an existential crisis. Even if some subconscious or bodily function is working in the background, it’s still the collective that is you that floats the ideas into your consciousness. And it’s not like you can’t resist an impulse

4

u/TempleMade_MeBroke Oct 09 '24

If you think I should, sure

3

u/LowClover Oct 09 '24

Does it matter if free will exists or not if we have the illusion of it? Genuinely. I don't care if I don't actually have free will. It feels like I do, so, you know. Whatever.

4

u/SiuSoe Oct 09 '24

yeah future kinda remains the same because we don't know what's gonna happen. but the past is different.

one of the biggest benefits I gained from this whole "no free will" thing is that now I am much less regretful. I used to ruminate all the time about my past choices. and it really does help knowing that I ultimately couldn't have done otherwise.

I think it kinda comes down to what makes you more frustrated when you face sad times. that it had to happen, or that it could've been avoided by your own choices. well, I clearly had much more problem dealing with the latter.

12

u/LftAle9 Oct 09 '24

My client can’t be held accountable for murdering that man, your honour. Two weeks before the shooting my client had a really bad night of sleep. He basically had to do it.

3

u/JksG_5 Oct 09 '24

My ego stopped believing in it.

1

u/NotSureNotRobot Oct 09 '24

There are those who think that life has nothing left to chance. A host of holy horrors to direct our aimless dance.

-1

u/Ok-Cook-7542 Oct 09 '24

neither philosophers nor scientists "believe" in free will; the consensus is that it is an illusion

1

u/SiuSoe Oct 09 '24

https://survey2020.philpeople.org/survey/results/4838

this kinda says otherwise I think

3

u/Ok-Cook-7542 Oct 09 '24

this shows that almost everyone believes in both libertarianism and determinism at the same time. determinism is "the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will." leave it to philosophers to create a paradoxical answer to a yes or no question. beyond the general consensus being that there is no free will, youll notice that that the answers heavily depend on what branch of philosophy they are from. those studying religion and ethics wholly believe in libertarianism while those studying science and logic lean more towards no free will.

2

u/SiuSoe Oct 09 '24

so compatibilism? I think compatibilism is just ignoring the real question. "we do have will, and oh boy it sure does feel free! so I guess... we have free will!"

3

u/Ok-Cook-7542 Oct 09 '24

yes the majority of the respondents answered compatibilism, which i agree is a non answer. of those that did choose between libertarianism and determinism, most chose determinism.

1

u/SiuSoe Oct 09 '24

can I get a source for that? because my link says libertarianism 18% determinism 11%

-5

u/WhyTheeSadFace Oct 09 '24

The great scientists, Nobel prize winners, great musicians didn't come there by chance, they used their free will to determine and change the course of their lives.

We are literally living inside the skull, which we didn't create nor responsible for the evolution why it is there, because of the last few billion years, so the free will means hopefully overcoming our challenges and marching towards the goals.

And we literally disappear after few decades.

3

u/SiuSoe Oct 09 '24

wow that's... superstitious

1

u/Slinshadyy Oct 09 '24

You have never spend a second informing yourself about counter arguments to your opinion

-1

u/-makehappy- Oct 09 '24

Does it matter? Any societal construct collapses without implied free will. There would be no such thing as being "held accountable" without it.

I've never cared about this debate because it's functionally irrelevant both for your everyday life and the macro human experience. We need to have implied free will to operate, so we'll keep setting systems up (both macro systems, and personal, internal belief systems) that prop it up.

4

u/SiuSoe Oct 09 '24

Idk... for example. if someone got shitfaced and drove over a kid should we be like "that's too bad but he wasn't himself so we gotta let this one slide." or should we say "oh this guy tends to drive while being drunk so we gotta put this guy somewhere else"?

a schizophrenic stabs a girl 15 times. do we go "ah it's a shame but he's mentally ill so he can't be held accountable so..." or "damn this guy is a dangerous human being we gotta separate this guy from society."?

I think the judicial system should punish people for one's past deeds(which of course could kinda predict, or at least suggest one's future), and not for the illusion that one could have done otherwise.

1

u/Slinshadyy Oct 09 '24

You’ve just never thought it through. It really makes a difference.