B2 Question #5
Well kids :) I haven't put up a question for a while so I need to repent. So, let me say...on the topic of consciousness... I think the most fascinating thing about this unit is the idea that we have a two-track mind. Our realization of an action seems to lag behind the actual action itself. In other words, by the time you realize you have told your body to do something, a message had already been sent to do what you want your body to do. Sounds crazy I know. But it seems that things happen without us even being aware of it. As I ponder this concept, I can't help but think of the concept of free-will. As humans, we pride ourselves in our ability to make conscious decisions but now it appears that an action can take place without us even being aware of it. So, what implications does this have on the concept of free-will and personal responsibility? How can we be responsible for an action when that action occured without us even realizing it? Anyway, think about this and help me resolve this conundrum.
posted by Mr. Fong | 4:49 PM
22 Comments:
Tough question, that's for sure. I still think the power of our free will is much greater in our conscious state. We are constantly making decisions that affect our lives. Doing something that your body wants without being able to control it is an extreme. In baseball a pitcher will instinctively block a ball from hitting him, it's faster then you can blink too. It's astonishing how fast it happens. I think that it is just for protection though. For a human being to make a decision consciously without knowledge of doing so is, solely for the benefit of the human.
There are some things we have control over and other things we don't. The ones that we do have control over will have a greater impact on us. While having vivid dreams, we still have our free will. Therefore we should do things we will not regret later, even if it is in a dream. Nuff said:3
I think that most of what you do that is instinct is minor decisions. There are no major decisions like the instinct to smoke or to murder someone. Though going to Taylor's comment I do think that there are some actions that we aren't aware of making the decision but those are mostly learned like a pitcher pitching the ball or eating our food. Most of these things we have learned and had to think about at one point. So putting all this together I think that even though we do things without thinking about it, we still have plenty of freewill. It would really get annoying if we had to think about everything.
Here's my theory. The decision itself and the carrying out of this decision are two different things. I believe we make a decision, and in the split second before we consciously carry out our decision our body has already done it. It's hard to explain. I think there is also a difference in the types of decisions we make. A simple motor decision, such as raising an arm or moving a leg, happen automatically, because they are menial tasks that do not require deep thought. This is especially true when our thoughts are focused on something more strenuous, such as a test. Then there are decisions we don't make, and these are automatic reactions to certain stimuli. These are reflexes, like we talked about in class. So yes, we do have free will about big things, but menial tasks, like moving a foot, are automatic.
We still have free will. We decide to do the action when the action is sent. We just don't realize that we sent it until after a slight delay. The only time we really have no free will is when our body has automatic reflexes, like when blocking a ball.
Will always have free will on most aspects in life. There's just gonna be times where are relfexes or our instincts kick into gear. That's when we have to take responsibility for whatever outcome takes place.
I like what david said, that we do simple things without a lot of deep thought, but we still have free will with the big things. We have to make the decision, no matter what, in order for our body to perform tasks. I think its just a matter of speed of processing. When learning something new, we often have to put alot of thought and effort in to doing it; yet when we a habit, such as biting our finger nails or smoking, I think we make a conscious decision so quickly that it seems like we've done it without our own choice. Either way, we have our free will whenever we do anything.
I believe that we do have control over a lot of things that occur but, not always. There are times where instinct and reflexes will take over. That is the part we cant really control
I think that we have control of ourself but there are something that we don't have control off. for example we don't have control over our reflexes and instincts.
I think that you should know a person if you explore their inner consciousness because they will say and do stuff that they want but they will not do or say to anybody else. Yet some things that you do without you knowing can be good.
There are things that we have control over and other things we don't. the things that we do have more control over will affect us more. while having dreams we have our freewill do do anything we want. most of the time we don't realize what we are doing till after it is done, and we just have to live with it.
I think even when we don't think about doing something we still do it because our mind and bodies are so used to just doing something everyday. as we move we don't ever really think about that action because our mind is focused on something else. if we thought about every move we made then nothing else we do everyday would take place.
Easy question, that's for sure. Initiating a reaction (or instant messaging your body parts) and receiving that message occur instantaneously and at the same moment. The idea that we realize our actions only after the fact is a fallacy. The reason we perceive this delay is due to memory.
Because it's not possible to live in any moment but the present, we only experience the initiation of an action for the very instant that it occurs. In that small time while we are busy creating a memory of this event, we unwittingly and erroneously perceive the blank in our memory as a non-entity. The human memory is not a copy of what we experience, it is more like an artist's depiction or a retelling of a story. The supposed lapse of our self-realization, the time between acting and directing, is actually the time it takes to create a memory.
For sure a tough question. i think that we already know what to do before we think to save time. like you said our brain makes short cuts. so maybe becaue we already know what to do we don't really have to think to do it.
Though our brains do make decisions that we are unaware of it is because we have done it many times before. I other words we train our mind to do certain things in certain situations and eventually we don't have to tell it word for word what to do. So we still have free will because we are still in control when we need to be but we can't concentrate on every thing all at once. So we focus on what is most important and the rest goes on auto pilot. but I still think we have free will.
I believe in most cases our conscious has the the ability to make most of our decisions. But it's hard to understand what our subconscious really wants. If we expose ourselves to things that may lead our subconscious in making decisions for us than we might regret what might happen. This is where our secret desires are kept. At times it may be hard to control what our bodies do but believe we are in control of our free will.
I think that we do have automatic reflexes. Some we are born with and some are learned. After a while it becomes automatic so we don't even have to think about it.
-taylor Bradford
I think that if we are aware of what we are doing, even if we don't know its a wrong decision, we should be responsible. If we aren't aware, then I don't think we should. Tough question though
I think that there are times when it is most efficient for your body to go on autopilot and leave the big decisions to conscious thought. And anyway, even if we don't immediately realize what's happening, it's still us.
it would be weird for my body to act without me realizing it. i think if it did it would have to be something small because I'm sure if i did something big i would have to realize it. if my brain acts before i do than i'd be acting on impulse all day. it's just apart of our everyday routine so sometimes we do things and we don't even notice till after it's been done.
I think that in our subconcious mind things happen, triggering actions we cant fully expect to control. its not a matter of free will. its a force of nature you cant trump. all you can do is try to control it or learn to live with it
Hmmm this is a hard question. But I think that we shouldn't do things that will lead us to do bad things. This way we can avoid feeling responsible for doing something
Post a Comment
<< Home