Destiny or free will?

[Son of Sephiroth]

Do you believe in free will or destiny? I mean if everything else in the universe, from the spin of a planet, to the movement of a dragonfly is dependant on laws, what makes YOU so special in the fact that you don't?

discuss.

[Snaggle_Tongue]

I saw something on another forum (SC will recognise this ) that we cannot have free will, because decisions cannot be made without cause.
It's someting like... for us to choose something there MUST be a cause. Without a CAUSE or REASON to do it, we wouldn't. Therefore, we cannot be Free to choose because to choose there must be something to determine it.
Not very well put, SC'll put it better but..
Say you have this choice:
To drink, or not to drink tea?
If you choose to drink; You'd need a reason. You must like it or be thirsty.
If you choose not to; You're not in the mood/not thirsty/don't like tea.
So, no free will. There is no independant variable to have so.
I suppose the RELIGIOUS meaning of Free Will would be having the ability to make this choice. Wether it's decided or not.
I don't know. I like that description. i can't be sure though. I'm one of those people who has opinions, but then at the end goes "But I might be wrong, who's to say? We can't prove it." But at least I'm open to new ideas.

[Kain Highwind]

/CAUSALITY/MATRIX/WHAT.

There's no such thing as free will.

[Son of Sephiroth]

If anyone cares, I also believe in destiny.

[Snaggle_Tongue]

Hmm..why?

[Son of Sephiroth]

basically it's because EVERYTHING in the universe follows laws. EVERYTHING. NO EXCEPTIONS. If you had enough time and a long enough piece of paper you could write out the laws of physics in equations or words or even computer code (OMG MATRIX THERE IS NO SPOON) and humans in their infinite egotistical stupidity think they can defy these laws? they can do as they plase? No they can't they follow these laws. They are a make up of biological functions designed purely to forever replicate itself. The unfortunate consequence of a concioussness and a sentience is a biproduct of the genome obeying these rules. This sentience we have is still motivated by the biological laws and we are forever trapped inside them.

[Snaggle_Tongue]

Ah..but what about personal destiny? Like meeting people, doing something random like watching tv- is that set into destiny?

[Kain Highwind]

YES.

[Snaggle_Tongue]

I wasn't asking what you believed, I was asking Son Of Sephiroth.

[Son of Sephiroth]

Yes. Subtle things will happen whic will effect your mental chemistry which in turn will make you do something

eg. There is a subtle change in pressure over france. This Lower pressure draws all the clouds in england towards it. Thus, it is sunny in england today. Because it is sunny, it reminds you of happy times you have had in the sun, so you feel good. this good feeling makes you crave more of it, so you go outside. You meet fellow "I like ths sun" people and what's this? their Immune system is subtly different from each other and their faces HAPPEn to be more symetrical? Attraction occurs and thus, the genes inside you manage to continue to the next generation (don't ask me to explain how) :P.

And all this happened because of a pressure difference.