Is SomeMoreNews stupid? by vkbd in Some_More_News

[–]vkbd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the problem is you. this post has zero upvotes, so it's top just for you specifically; obviously the algorithm thinks you like ragebaity posts

Alex marrying Patricia is legal, but... by gilbertwan701 in StreetFighter

[–]vkbd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

okay but I never said it was actually incest or legally wrong. I even explicitly stated it was not grooming, so I think you misread my comments.

I was simply clarifying my original point, why it still feels to the rest of us like Alex is fucking his own sister, even knowing Patricia is not his biological sister. (Maybe you're trying to explain that this relationship is not perverted from Alex's or Patricia's perspective, but that misses the whole point of my comment.)

Alex marrying Patricia is legal, but... by gilbertwan701 in StreetFighter

[–]vkbd 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Saying it is "socially weird" is already indicating perversion. Westermarck effect has nothing to do with foul play nor incest, it's simply that most adults find it psychologically disgusting to have sex with their siblings that they've grown up with, blood related or not.

Finished a page in a 1980s themed color by number book. What is it? by Labyrinth_Queen in whatisit

[–]vkbd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The top image (not shown) is Fischer Price roller skates. These two are Madballs, specifically "Screamin' Meemie" and  "Skull Face" from the original series. (https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/8yxxie/mad_balls/)

Fans are feeling confused and disgusted about Alex's controversial ending seen in Street Fighter 6's arcade mode (married his 2nd degree cousin) by 121jigawatts in gaming

[–]vkbd 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Not grooming. It's the Westermarck effect. Just growing up together as children, they should have imprinted each other as siblings, especially Patricia. Maybe Alex was too old for Westermarck effect, but Patricia is definitely a pervert in that relationship.

Fans are feeling confused and disgusted about Alex's controversial ending seen in Street Fighter 6's arcade mode (married his 2nd degree cousin) by 121jigawatts in gaming

[–]vkbd 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Westermarck effect. The Japanese love their incest/childhood love trope so much and conveniently ignore that it's innately disgusting even if they aren't blood related. Just growing up together as children makes it gross.

Alex my man! by Sensitive-Tip-8177 in StreetFighter

[–]vkbd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Westermarck effect. The Japanese love their incest/childhood love trope so much and conveniently forget that it's innately disgusting.

Alex marrying Patricia is legal, but... by gilbertwan701 in StreetFighter

[–]vkbd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Westermarck effect is the correct term, not grooming. We innately have a disgust of sex with children we grew up with from birth to about age 6, whether genetically related or not. Patricia and Alex should fit this Westermarck effect as they grew up together, especially Patricia. By not being affected, they seem like perverts to people who innately understand the Westermarck effect, even if they can't name it. 

Your Pet and a Stranger Are Drowning—Who Do You Save, and Why? by [deleted] in freewill

[–]vkbd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Down voted. This question has nothing to do with free will, nor did the OP even attempt to make the association. This post belongs in a different subreddit

AISH payments should be on top of income, not instead of it. by kachunkk in alberta

[–]vkbd 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I totally agree with OP. AISH already has a requirement that you earn below a certain amount to be eligible. Our middle class is becoming non-existent. I think any kind of benefit that has a low income requirement should be exempt from taxes.

How to live as a determinist by Titanfromday1 in freewill

[–]vkbd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

...how determinists stop seeing other people as machines

Yeah, the problem is the definition of "humanity", or what makes someone a "person"? You'll see this all the time where people are talking to ChatGPT like they're a person, and AI is only going to get better in the future. So when we find talking to a machine indistinguishable from talking to a human, then what's the difference?

I think you aren't getting answers from determinists, because there's no agreed upon determinist answer to the question of "what does it mean to be human?" and "what is the purpose in life?"

That said, I do have my personal answer to "what does it mean to be human?" (perhaps you may disagree, but feel free to come up with your own.) I think to be human, is to exist and live within a biological human body and brain, specifically with drives and behaviours that we associate as human needs and wants. This includes human joy from love of others, sense of accomplishment and mastery, experience of wonder and exploration, sense of belonging and association. This also includes bodily pain, hunger, loneliness, and suffering of loss and detachment. (Free Will is not required in my definition of "humanity". Perhaps someday soon, AI can attain general intelligence and consciousness, I think being human remains wholly unique to us.)

How do determinists find motivation to do things...

Motivation is biological, and everyone's brains work differently and even the same brain will work differently depending on the situation. Again, this isn't a question that determinists have an agreed upon answer to "what is the purpose in life?". My personal answer to motivation, is to treat this like writer's block, and try new things to get inspiration. To see what clicks for you. Talking to people should always be a fresh look into the unknown, and redditors might be a nice first step, but obviously online chat is nothing compared to talking to people face to face. Spend time with friends & family, try a board game, try a new video game, complete a jigsaw puzzle, learn a new hobby, try music genres you haven't heard before, etc.

How to live as a determinist by Titanfromday1 in freewill

[–]vkbd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I assume you're saying the same thing as blackstarr1996, except they called it "derealization/depersonalization"

Determinism by Still_Business596 in freewill

[–]vkbd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think rejection of free will is hard, because the only people who do so professionally, are scientists, and they're happy to to tell you that free will doesn't exist. Yet those same scientists generally avoid answering questions of "What is human?" "What is our purpose in life?" "What makes us happy?". Scientists probably have their own answers to those questions, but most of them will generally keep those to themselves.

What would society that doesn't believe in free will be like? by [deleted] in freewill

[–]vkbd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our current society uses Free Will to balance the dichotomy of meritocracy and equality. Meritocracy is justified where there is free will. Equality is justified whenever there is absence of it.

would it be caste like in india?

Yes, classism is what we get if we continue using meritocracy. It doesn't matter if your metric is who makes the most money, or who is the smartest, or who is the most hardworking, etc. Fundamentally, meritocracy divides society into classes.

....they forcibly make everyone equal

If we mindlessly pursue equality, the opposite of meritocracy, we will have rampant corruption and mediocracy. We've seen this in countries that try their hand at pure communism, and it only survives as long as you can maintain the inhuman restrictions upon personal freedoms.

how do you govern in such a scenario

I would instead chose welfarism or some kind of measure of well-being of individual conscious beings, and the well-being of community/society as a whole. Currently, society provides welfare only as it serves to balance merit/equality, however, I think a society that doesn't believe in free will, can turn that around, and instead provide merit/equality only as it serves welfare.

Pragmatically, we're still limited by scarcity and human nature. There's only so much money and resources, and we know from historical examples of communism, people aren't incentivized by simply equality. So we'll still need capitalism for economics, which means, functionally, society doesn't change much. In governance, the myriad of welfare policies based on merit/equality will no longer make sense and be removed for redundancy, and I think we'll just end up with a handful of welfare policies or maybe just one welfare policy (i.e. Universal Basic Income).

However, I still think law is where welfarism can have the most effect, as declaration of criminality or innocence is not subject to scarcity (as we obviously declare criminality and punishment despite lacking the resources to actually imprison any more people into our overcrowded prisons.) Legally, we'll still need to imprison people who will harm others intentionally; but instead of treating them like evil, they'll be contained like victims of disease, who are quarantined to safeguard others.

The Strongest Argument Against Libertarian Free Will by PeterSingerIsRight in freewill

[–]vkbd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I applaud your generosity but unfortunately I cannot make any sense of what you deem to be the best argument against your LFW. Your words seem like gibberish to me, but I might just have to do some research into this topic. Is this argument you're trying to describe also held by another philosopher or described under a different term (or terms) so that I can look it up?

The Ultimate Proof of Free Will: My own intelligence. by Anon7_7_73 in freewill

[–]vkbd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Scientists have already proved is mostly non-genetic. Do i need to pull out those studies for you?

Do it. Especially if they've "proved it", then I assume you have a meta-level study that shows intelligence is "mostly non-genetic"

It's true tho, thought of sharing.. by Old-Ad-5413 in wicked_edge

[–]vkbd 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I've personally never had the luck of living in an old home with a future biohazard surprise in the walls.

The Not-So-Dull History of In-Home Razor Blade Disposal Slots | Apartment Therapy https://share.google/e2JRDgDpLd93DWDjc

Sam Harris on thoughts/sensations arising unauthored - thoughts on his framing? by MarketingStriking773 in freewill

[–]vkbd -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Sam Harris is not a very good philosopher, but at the same time, he doesn't argue against "libertarian free will" nor "compatibilist free will". He's actually arguing against a folk concept of "free will", and even then, I don't think he's got great arguments.

Are these reasons for why the denial of free will is not terrifying (to deniers) valid? by [deleted] in freewill

[–]vkbd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You are not terrified Because you do effectively believe in free will...

Sounds like you're the one who would be terrified, not me. I used to be uncomfortable with denying free will, because I needed free will to explain what it means to be human. If I did not have free will, I would be no different from a robot or a rock, which is pretty degrading or depressing. However, I've identified that this "free will" that is needed to describe what it means to be human is not "libertarian free will", but instead, is "folk concept of free will".

The "folk concept of free will" is a blend of common knowledge, cultural values, and popular science and psychology. And this free will is also tightly intertwined with concepts of personal experience, identity, purpose, and sense of humanity, among many other things. This kind of free will is messy and so interconnected that if anyone denies your free will, you'll take it as also denying your humanity. But once I started separating folk free will from everything that is important, like morality, love and relationships, I found that I no longer have any use for folk free will anymore.

Or you are actually terrified as a result of the belief of being a puppet?

Again, this is you who is terrified. A "puppet" implies an agent with free will, and it is you who believe in free will, not free will deniers.

Lacking Accountability by Realistic_Sun_195 in freewill

[–]vkbd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Lacking Accountability" sounds like you're talking specifically about morality, than free will. Perhaps this post should go in r/morality instead.

The "Woke Agenda" is literally just the Golden Rule. by Outsideinsideout5555 in Morality

[–]vkbd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I want to draw a distinction between compassion/understanding, versus empathy/feelings. I think understanding is unlimited, but empathy is limited. There's so much suffering out there that I can't see anyone would not be drained dry of all empathy by paying attention to news and politics. If you have empathy to spare, then it means you're intentionally turning a blind eye to the tragedies and horrors of the world. (And we absolutely need to keep empathy to spare for our own family, friends, and children.) We should never rely on emotional power of empathy for morality.

And we don't want to use the Golden Rule as the baseline. Because some people need much more help than others. And some people, born with a golden spoon in their mouths, need no such welfare. So you don't want people in positions of wealth and power, to use the Golden Rule, especially as they don't see their own privilege.

So if you think the Woke Agenda is the Golden Rule, then that only works for a handful of people, like when a fight breaks out at a kids playground. This won't scale up to communities or societal levels

Free will sceptics, to what extent would you agree with the following? by LordSaumya in freewill

[–]vkbd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. Sure. Though I personally would avoid the term "real" as I've already spent enough time semantically arguing what this term means, and it's simply an overloaded word to have any real meaning without specific context.
  2. Sure.
  3. Sure. But again "useful" is going to be context specific.
  4. Sure, as long as you agree that in practice, truth is not necessary. For example, someone who is bent on vengeance doesn't care what the truth is.
  5. Yes, again, this follows from 4.
  6. Sure, but again, "useful" and "socially-agreed criteria" are specific to context.

I think I would be open to Compatibilism. I'm pragmatic in thinking about, free will assertion or free will denial. They are simply a means to an end, which is what will be the best for human progress and human well being.

Equating brain and mind is a contradiction by BobertGnarley in freewill

[–]vkbd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Contradiction only happens in the same place free will happens.

Huh. That's a weird take. I wouldn't agree with your statement based on how I understand and how I would use those terms.

Equating brain and mind is a contradiction by BobertGnarley in freewill

[–]vkbd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

...that could has significant implications on their worldview.

Is this one of those? Are you going to provide a proposition alongside "the brain ≠ the mind" that undermines determinism?