/lit/ - Literature

>>10622824
"Free will doesn't exist. But I act like free will exists"

>But I act like free will exists

You realize that this statement is precisely the exact same thing as saying that free will exists.

Let's say for instance, we are coming up with our own mathematical system. We have this "1" symbol, and we can say that 2 ACTS LIKE it equals 1+1

You might try to say: 2 doesn't really equal = 1 + 1. But it acts like it does. For instance, if you added 5 to both sides, 2 would still act like it equals 1 + 1.

(2) + 5 = (1 + 1) + 5

7 = 7

Notice that this mathematical system is completely divorced from reality. You can think of it as a completely different universe with it's own rules, rules that we come up with ourselves. We tried to say that "2 doesn't REALLY equal 1 + 1" there must be some rule within the system that when applied to (2) and (1+1) they produce a result that distinguishes them. We can define f() such that f(2) = 634, and f(1+1) = 3.

In that case we can have (2) and (1+1) not being equal, hooray. But our second premise that 2 acts like 1+1 has been violated. In order for 2 to still act like 1+1, we need to have every single rule in our math system to treat 2 and 1+1 the same. So we can get rid of the function f(). But in THIS system of rules we have created, we can't say that 2 and 1+1 aren't "really" equal to each other.

By the same logic, if WE act like we have free will, and also EVERYTHING else in the whole universe (the whole system) also acts like we have free will, then there is no rule within the universe that you can use to show make the distinction between having free will, and just looking like you have free will.

You can say that we don't "truly" have free will, but this would have to be a statement that you are making OUTSIDE of our system of reality. You would have to accept because there is no measure that that shows that we don't have free will (because the entire universe acts like we do), NOW you have to invent a measure, call it "p", that shows that humans don't have free will but also by definition cannot be measured in this universe.

If it cannot be measured in this universe, then it has zero interaction with every real thing, therefore it's just not real.

There is no function f() within the logical system of the universe. There is no measure "p" that actually exists.

Therefore free will is real.