I always get stuck with this. That yes, I could not have made any other decision, but that decision is still mine to make.
It's like being able to predict what someone is going to do, because you know them and how they think, and what decision they will make when presented with the choice, doesn't stop that from being their choice.
The universe may be deterministic, but my personality is still my personality. It is encoded into the chemical make-up of my brain, and so that complex chemistry behaves in ways that align with my personality. My personality is shaped by my previous experience, but it's still my personality. I still choose, even though the universe can predict all of my choices, because the thing I do the choosing with is part of the process.
And this seems very like the argument about intelligence and instinct. If I respond in a certain way to an event, is it because I am intelligent and "thinking" about my response, or is it instinctual and coded into my meat to respond this way? How would I tell the difference?
Same with free will, how would I tell the difference between a choice I freely made and one I didn't?
It's like being able to predict what someone is going to do, because you know them and how they think, and what decision they will make when presented with the choice, doesn't stop that from being their choice.
The universe may be deterministic, but my personality is still my personality. It is encoded into the chemical make-up of my brain, and so that complex chemistry behaves in ways that align with my personality. My personality is shaped by my previous experience, but it's still my personality. I still choose, even though the universe can predict all of my choices, because the thing I do the choosing with is part of the process.
And this seems very like the argument about intelligence and instinct. If I respond in a certain way to an event, is it because I am intelligent and "thinking" about my response, or is it instinctual and coded into my meat to respond this way? How would I tell the difference?
Same with free will, how would I tell the difference between a choice I freely made and one I didn't?