New bird believes...

[Sands of Time]

Ive had that before as well. Congrats, it's a nice feeling isnt it!?

Oh YES!

It'll be my third time...




Tone

[OwlHoot]

"I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road."
- Stephen Hawking ..

Good one

"The harder I work, the luckier I get."

-- Samuel Goldwyn

[doodab]

Is it "you" consciously who makes decisions though, or how you are wired up that makes the decision?

I think there is a combination of conscious calculation and subconscious instinct that varies somewhat depending on the decision being made. I find behavioural economics and evolutionary psychology very interesting because this is where science is really starting to explore this in detail.

Of course you also have the question of whether the universe is fundamentally deterministic or not and the arguably more interesting question of whether emergent structure might not render it largely predictable even if it is truly random at a very low level. To some extent that debate renders the question of free will somewhat moot anyway.

On the other hand, even if free will is largely illusory we still have to make the choices we make and live with them and in that regard all metaphysics, whether atheistic reductionism or pseudo-religious mysticism, amounts to much the same thing, namely a way of thinking about our choices as part of a bigger picture.

Your memory stores past decisions, good or bad, to use again. Perhaps that's your consciousness.

IMO consciousness is an emergent property of a very complicated set of chemical reactions. Pavlovian conditioning certainly plays a part, especially in emotionally charged situations.

[Sands of Time]

For me, life isn't fair, but that's a good thing!



Tone

[BrilloPad]

The harder I work the luckier I get.

[TimberWolf]

The harder I work the luckier I get.

That's a bit like buying lots of lottery tickets.

[TimberWolf]

I think there is a combination of conscious calculation and subconscious instinct that varies somewhat depending on the decision being made. I find behavioural economics and evolutionary psychology very interesting because this is where science is really starting to explore this in detail.

Hmm, but don't those "conscious calculations" get carried out by unconscious (and uncontrollable?) processes? If so, the conscious mind remains the unwitting servant of the unconscious with its instinctive and perhaps deterministic or random decision making processes? In any case I don't see any alternatives to decisions being made other than by deterministic or random means, what other choice is there, whether a decision is made consciously or not. What does it mean when people say they make a conscious decision or think they somehow escape deterministic or random choices. Is this a delusion? Perhaps that's what consciousness is, a grand delusion.

Of course you also have the question of whether the universe is fundamentally deterministic or not and the arguably more interesting question of whether emergent structure might not render it largely predictable even if it is truly random at a very low level. To some extent that debate renders the question of free will somewhat moot anyway.

On the other hand, even if free will is largely illusory we still have to make the choices we make and live with them and in that regard all metaphysics, whether atheistic reductionism or pseudo-religious mysticism, amounts to much the same thing, namely a way of thinking about our choices as part of a bigger picture.



IMO consciousness is an emergent property of a very complicated set of chemical reactions. Pavlovian conditioning certainly plays a part, especially in emotionally charged situations.

Chaos theory provides another alternative. A fully deterministic system, where all variables are known and fully understood, but where outcomes can't be determined and appear essentially random. Emergent structures also appear, I think Turing was amongst the first to explorer this. You have to run the program, and the result may be drastically different each run. A unpredictable clockwork universe.

[d000hg]

in FATE, LUCK and SUPERSTITION??

How do I deal with this???

Apparently, I'm lucky to get a new contract?

It's not the decades of experience, good networking skills, execellent resume and FOUSANDS I've spent on proper training!!

I should have just stayed in bed as it was meant to be!


An odd way of looking at life??

It ain't all bad - she's good at ironing!




Tone

If you have such fundamental differences in how you understand the universe, perhaps view this as a subtle sign you aren't right for each other...

..Otherwise she might end up lucky, thanks to your decades of experience, good networking skills, execellent resume and FOUSANDS spent on proper training.

[Sands of Time]

If you have such fundamental differences in how you understand the universe, perhaps view this as a subtle sign you aren't right for each other...

..Otherwise she might end up lucky, thanks to your decades of experience, good networking skills, execellent resume and FOUSANDS spent on proper training.

Didn't Doris Day sing it?

[TimberWolf]

We are all mindbogglingly lucky to be here, but most of CUK believe it was pure skill