On 16 May 2015 at 05:28, Bruno Marchal <marc...@ulb.ac.be> wrote: > > On 14 May 2015, at 23:49, LizR wrote: > The basic idea is that if you can predict in advance what you will do, you > can as well change your mind. >
Yes, that's analogous to the halting problem, I would say. Self-reference comes into both. > But I am wary of talk about free will and responsibility because of their > political use. > > Then I am wary to talk about anything. health, climate, energy, religion, > etc. > Yes, it's as well to be careful in all those areas. Make sure you know what you are talking about, because they can all be misused. As can the idea of Free Will, as illustrated satirically by the cartoon I mentioned. > As in a cartoon I have on my wall (though not the one in front of me at > the moment, unfortunately, so this is from memory)... > > A business-suited arm points accusingly at a baby. A speech bubble from > the arm's owner, out of frame: > > "YOU are going to make some bad decisions in your life. You will choose > the wrong parents, the wrong socio-economic group, the wrong foster home. > As a result you will be abused, drop out, become a delinquent, become > drug-addicted, end up in prison... > > ...WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR LIFE?" > > Simple. I will take responsibility when you will give my responsibility > back. > That's the point, yes. Political policies and social institutions that remove freedoms from some part of the population are justified by the oppressors using the idea that the victims are somehow "responsible" for their lack of freedom. This is a misuse of the idea of free will - making it out to be some magical thing that means "anyone can succeed" despite being oppressed, marginalised, deprived, uneducated, given no opportunities, kept poor etc. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
