Has anybody else picked this up yet? It’s really done a number on me. Prior to reading it I would consider myself a Stoic. One of my central philosophies being that “The choices I make define who I am”.

So obviously being told that my choices were never even mine to begin with was kind of a slap in the face.

It rings true though. The choices we make at any given time are a result of our genetics, or environment, the media we’ve consumed, how tired we are…

I’m not a stranger to the concept of Ego death but it had been a hot minute since I thought about it.

  • Longjumping-Isopod18@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    Yes, but it has far reaching moral implications that are too often ignored. If all the decisions (and outcomes you experience in life) you make are essentially just a product of genetics and environmental influences how much inequality can you justify.

    Free will should be foundational to a lot of beliefs in life because everyone should be pretty humble about whatever privileges they have in life, because they’ve acquired them mostly by luck and circumstance (more luck).

    • scraejtp@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      Take it to the logical conclusion that you make no decision, and are a biological logic machine. The consciousness is an artifact of the process to keep the machine running efficiently. Your sense of self is an illusion.

      You are not luckier to live a rich life than the Macbook is lucky to be sitting on your desk.

    • heyiambob@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      Check out the short stories ‘Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom’ and ‘What’s Expected of Us’ by Ted Chiang