Re: Free will as proof of superphysical

"That Guy" <7@xxxxx> wrote in message
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"Connie" <tucson.connie@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"That Guy" <7@xxxxx> wrote in message
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I submit that if the first statement is true, then the second must be as
well:

1. Humans have free will.
2. Humans as beings exist at least partly outside of the known laws of
physics.

The reason is difficult to explain, but I'll try.

Our consciousness is made of neural activity, electrochemical in nature.
When the neurons fire a certain way, we think, or feel or do a certain
thing. By what physical process can our mind control the firing of
neurons and release of neurochemicals, when that is what our mind is?

If there is a way for a human to influence his brain, thereby making the
decision process something which is directed rather than an illusion, it
must be outside the realm of physics, because if you take a particular
brain in a certain particular state and stimulate it a certain way, you
will always get the same response--if the laws of physics are all that
govern the process of what we consider to be mind. And if that is the
case, then the response of the individual is determined only through the
stimulus acting on the brain and nothing else. Therefore the feeling
that one is able to make decisions is just a feeling and nothing more.

However, if there is something that governs the brain (let's call it a
soul) which is beyond the physical laws, then free will could exist in
humans.

Is this idea wrong? If so, why?



Doesn't seem one could judge it right or wrong (except for Bill, of
course!) It's a theory; I like it. Separates us from the animals.


Really? How does it separate humans from animals? IMO, there's no way to
tell whether or not animals have free will, but it seems as though they
do.

Think lemmings.


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