Not exactly sure this question belongs here but due to the philosophical nature of it I'll post it here regardless.
Does anybody here really believe that our behaviour is fully(or mostly) predetermined by our genetics? I mean in the sense that our personalities, how violent we are etc are shaped by genetics?
Do you also believe in the notion of free will?
Because those two beliefs seem rather antithetical to eachother in my opinion.
>>946105
>Do you also believe in the notion of free will?
No.
>>946109
How curious. I was looking for someone to say this actually. Care to elaborate a little? In my opinion the lack of belief in free will seems like a rather depressing outlook on life.
>>946105
Playing devil's advocate here: you can have certain proclivities and personality flaws and still resist them for rational reasons.
As an easy example, humans are biologically predisposed to be afraid of the dark but most people have no trouble mastering this fear.
>>946126
This is my stance too. I believe this is what differentiates us from simply being animals. However I'm curious as to how much of our life is dictated by our instincts as opposed to our personal beliefs and reasoning.
>>946117
>choosing your beliefs based on how happy they make you
Why don't you go ahead and disbelieve in death as well?
>>946105
>Does anybody here really believe that our behavior is fully (or mostly) predetermined by our genetics?
I suspect the majority don't. I certainly don't.
>Do you also believe in the notion of free will?
I don't believe in that either.
>>946126
Yeah, but how good you are at reasoning is largely determined by genetics as well, and the rest is determined by your health and schooling. Someone with Down Syndrome is gonna have a lot more trouble overcoming their fear of the dark, but I would argue that they have just as much free will as a regular human.
>>946149
Sure, but I could still act in ways that go against my nature. For example taking my own life simply because I want to.
>>946196
You would only be taking your own life because the chemicals in your brain send a signal to your limbs to shoot yourself, and that signal resulted from a previous signal, which resulted from previous external input, with the chain of causality going back to before you were born.
Nah
>Does anybody here really believe that our behaviour is fully(or mostly) predetermined by our genetics?
Yes.
>Do you also believe in the notion of free will?
No.
The concept of "freedom" vs "determinism" can be seen as a continuum, either concept on either end. Very rarely do people fall in the extreme "ends", because once they're fully explored, the concepts are not exclusive. The center would be "soft determinism", wherein, while our choices and actions are somewhat dictated by our upbringing and environment, we still have some element of choice, or "the ability to make the wrong decision", or "go against our nature". It's fine to "fall" anywhere along this continuum, and most people throughout their lives generally do.
>>946105
Imagine genetics like different size bowls and your nurturing as cereal.
You can put the sweets in any bowl you want, but the dude with the bigger bowl is going to be able to fit more cereal in.
And it depends what you mean by free will, you can make decisions, but you can't change time ect.
>>946562
Sweets = cereal, sorry for the mixed metaphor
>>946105
No.
But your genes do lay out a set of default attitudes and behaviors IMO.
>>946105
>Does anybody here really believe that our behaviour is fully(or mostly) predetermined by our genetics? I mean in the sense that our personalities, how violent we are etc are shaped by genetics?
Mostly, yes. Environment plays a role sure. But you can't get away from the fact that while you can put a dog in a mansion and dress him in a suit and call him a butler, he's still a dog.
While some dogs are meaner than others because of their upbringing, certain breeds are simply more likely to be violent than others because those are the traits that we selected for when we bred them.
>Do you also believe in the notion of free will?
Yes, but I don't try to bind it to the material plane in any way. I'm a metaphysical idealist, the will precedes manifestation is the quickest way I can describe my position.
>>946105
>it would matter either way if we had freewill or not
wew
>>946181
yes but genetics is also influenced by choices made during your life, which is influenced by genetics which is influenced by choice and so on.
in many ways you can say that the human being is not a single entity but the culmination of choice and environment over millennia
>>946105
Why have you excluded the environment?
How are genetics and free incompatible? Whether you eat chicken or beef tommorow isn't hard-wired by your genetics.
Every single thought, impulse perception or sensation that graces your mind is determined by the reaction of your genetics/physiology to your environment. Your presence and actions are part of your environment - there's a complex mutual interaction between nature and nurture. However the factors that shape all of your decisions were formed by a chain of causality stretching back long before you were born.
Free will is a false but necessary concept that allows us to assign responsibility and blame upon individuals for their actions, allowing for morality and fear of being punished/judged to discourage unsocial behaviour.
>>947162
what is the purpose of conscious existence, and if it is epiphenomenal, how can we be sure it exists in all humans, or even most?
best of all, why does it arise as it does in nature?
>>946105
>Does anybody here really believe that our behaviour is fully(or mostly) predetermined by our genetics?
Yes.
>Do you also believe in the notion of free will?
Yes.
>>946174
Yeah no need to bother replying pretty sure everyone can guess your stance you obnoxious tripfag.
