Quote:Of course, just because I can make a better case than you can on this subject, or because I have put more thought and effort into this discussion, that doesn't mean I am right. But I don't think you are thinking seriously about what I wrote. You're kind of dismissing it out of hand without attempting to refute it logically, and I think my logic is pretty airtight. But it's hard for people (you, for example) to take it seriously, because the implications can be kind of disturbing.


The only way an action is not predetermined is if it happens spontaneously, without anything causing it. In the case you cite, your purchases were all predetermined by previous events. You saw a commercial, or something broke and it had to be replaced, or someone told you about something and you desired it. It's all caused by prior events.


If the laws of nature are constant and unchanging, then the future is caused by prior events. It doesn't happen spontaneously without any cause. Billiard balls on a billiard table don't move spontaneously; they are struck by something that causes them to move. It's the same way with your thoughts and impulses. They don't come from nowhere; they are all caused: by things you read, by people you interact with, by your environment and your genetic makeup.


The only way you can say something is not predetermined is if it has no cause; if nothing happened prior to it that caused it to happen. And I cannot think of a single thing that does not happen without a cause. There are things we cannot yet explain, but they are all explainable (eventually) by science and logic.


When you go to lunch today, ask yourself why you made that decision. Did someone tell you it's a good place to eat? Have you had that type of food before, and you would like some more? Where you go to lunch is a decision you make, but that decision is all caused by prior events. In that way, the decision you make is inevitable- your mind adds up the pros and cons and the decision is made. You were destined to eat there.


And that's why I say that what you think of as free will is an illusion.