We're reaching the point of agreeing to disagree except . . . .
Are you really saying that nearly all of your decisions can't be explained
(by you)?
Well, of course they can be explained by me -- but the acronym for
that sort of explanation is "BS"
One of Nietzsche's many nice quotes is (paraphrased): "Consciousness
is like the army commander who takes responsibility for the
largely-autonomous actions of his troops."
Recall also Gazzaniga's work on split-brain patients, for insight into
the illusionary nature of many human explanations of "reasons for
actions."
The process of explaining why we have done what we have done is an
important aspect of human intelligence -- but not because it is
accurate, it almost never is.... More because this sort of
storytelling helps us to structure our future actions (though
generally in ways we cannot accurately understand or explain ;-)
Some of the discussion here is relevant
http://www.goertzel.org/dynapsyc/2004/FreeWill.htm
-- Ben
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