Determinism and biological predisposition

Philosophy Forums Science, Technology, and Math
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I am impressed by the thought processes expressed here to a general extent. So I offer this up in some attempt to come to terms with it as process in play.

I was born this way, as excuse. So how much variation is available to an individual as result of their genetic make-up and how it manifests itself through the choices made in life.

Determinism rather implies a lack of free will and that often boils down to debate, but perhaps a middle ground to the extremes of everything is determined (no free will) and nothing is determined (complete free will) I offer the notion of predisposition.

An object in uniform motion tends to stay in motion unless affected by an external force. In this discussion the object in motion is an individual as it moves not only through the physical but the emotional intellectual and spiritual components of consciousness as well.

Beginning with conception and carrying through to death the individual path through existence is a trace through time/space. Toy with notions of reincarnation and a ‘life’ after sparingly in the discussion if you will as that opens a can of worms quite beyond the intention of opening this discussion. (that intention: to have an opportunity to read other peoples thoughts as to broaden my own rather limited thinking being ‘imprisoned’ by this “I/ego” consciousness, This I/ego, just plain doesn’t get out much at all) To the extent this can be discussed without religious beliefs becoming a large part of the dialog, the extent is so framed.

The term ‘force’ rather less focused on it’s physical properties and its relation to physical Mass and more loosely used in the example of the force exerted by, an encounter with a germ, virus or chemical interactions as well as the ‘force’ exerted by freewill in affecting the outcome of the life in motion. I’m am loosely attempting to include anything that has potential to change the course of a human life trace from that point forward. This perhaps can not be done without some divorce from common notions of force, energy, and mass. Free will being an example of a “force” with out a physical mass in the common sense of thinking of mass, momentum and inertia.

Perhaps I should first ask if free will can be thought of in terms of exerting force or what the mass of that force might be. The object in motion; an individual life, not only limited to it physical journey but also to include it’s intellectual, emotional and spiritual, If you can subscribe, if even temporarily, to such thinking that “team spirit” may be considered example of the spiritual, perhaps even to include the notions of empathy and compassion as forces exerting effects on the life path of an individual.

As kick off, at the moment of conception, does the mothers state of mind affect the chemistry in the womb/environment sufficient enough to act as a ‘force’ that modifies the ‘direction’ of the fetus’ development. I assume the developing fetus at this point in the process is not demonstrating free will in action, yet its life is unfolding as its cells continue to divide. I’m also not all that interested in this discussion dissolving into any sort of a ‘pro-life/choice’ debate to the extent it can be avoided.

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That is correct and called “compatiblism”.

A life is formed without its own volition and with limits of capability. As it experiences events, it grows more one direction than another in accord with its predisposed capabilities. In the case of homosapian, the issue gets very complex and the distinction between what was inherently caused and what was chosen by consideration, gets confused and conflated.

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Fascinating. You have pointed out a rabbit that is new to me and I’ve been following it down its hole and again stumble into the labyrinth of connected tunnels and passageways that lead to places I had not heard of before but are representative of ideas that are not so different then the thoughts I’ve been thinking. Perhaps you could save me some time and share any awareness whether this extends as well to the “It’s a Wonderful Life” sort of notion that dramatic difference can result in the removal of a single individual as I question whether the emergence of a single person and “their” resulting contributions really have that much effect. That is to say that if Charles Darwin wasn’t born his evolutionary theory would simply be attributed to some other bloke. That if Einstein hadn’t been born we’d still likely have a theory of general relativity but it would simply be attributed to someone else. Perhaps you might also anticipate where the line of reasoning is headed.

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It is a long standing theory of mine that what you say is accurate. If Einstein was never born, someone else would come up with something similar and life would proceed pretty close to the same way. But that cannot be taken too far in that it is critically important that learning occur in a specific order so as to achieve any specific result. Also one must consider the general “butterfly effect” because at times, events are strongly determined by a pivotal moment. On rare occasions a society can be totally altered by a small event that triggered persuasion more in one direction than another.

The entire 1929 depression would definitely have been avoided if JP Morgan Jr had not intentionally announced that he was going to pull out all of his money from the market. JP Morgan Jr was the USA’s first true economic terrorist/manipulator. If he had not done that, another person might have been assigned that goal, but they might not have succeeded and the USA’s participation in WW2 could have been very different.

The advent of technology before a deeper understanding of life is another example of a very different outcome merely by the order in which things occur. Often merely a delay can completely alter the future events. But the norm is far more the other way around wherein most changes merely provide a slight delay or advance in what was going to eventually happen anyway. So it isn’t a black or white situation. It depends on the momentums involved and the occurrence of pivotal moments.

I don’t know if that is really what you were asking, but it is what you got. :mrgreen: