Freewill does not exist. Period. Metaphysics and ontology is bullshit, they don’t exist either. The three have progressed hand-in-hand through the ages via the development of language and intellect. The concept of freewill was introduced as a rhetorical device for subordinating the stronger types by blame and responsibility. In fact, “philosophy” is a method of the weaker type, now that I mention it. It is an inferior form of power which only stalls physical strength. In the end it is the deed that endures…not the words and “philosophies.”
One could be made to feel guilty if they believed they were responsible. The attempt to make another feel guilty is a form of resentment…a product of the weaker type.
A few things that might alarm you about children and parents:
The child to the parent is like a pet. The parent, whom is dying, gets to play God for a brief moment. The parent, envious of fate, gets revenge by creating another life…as if the parent were at war with mortality.
“I live through my child,” says the parent…yet the child dies like the parent. The parent knows this, but still it creates life in a futile attempt to gain authority over fate.
The parent wants to control fate, but cannot, so instead the parent finds relief in the chance to play God by dictating the life of its child.
Parents don’t “love” their children…they envy them. The child becomes a pet, a project, a little experiment…the parents chance to control.
Of course my idea here requires a deeper explaination which I would be willing to elaborate upon, had I more time. I am currently on an island at a library with a rather long waiting list for this computer. In the near future, perhaps, we can discuss this further. For now I will tell you this: nothing is what it seems regarding this issue. Don’t ask a “parent” about any of this because you will not get the truth. The ramifications of my theory reach far beyond any contemporary psychology or “family values” or any other such bullshit. There are darker shades which many do not see.
country guys write all the best stuff on tv while high on manure and other bullshit. i’d take lsd any day.
who cares if they do exist or they dont exist detrop ? just by my talking about them they do exist. i am thus the first spring of existance and therefore god himself. sartre still rocks ;p
isn’t the very idea of free will in children antithetical to the idea of trying to direct their character in one way or another?
on the other hand, it’s going to be directed by environment anyway. but then there is a distinction between trying to impose your will on their actions and teaching by example. and if there’s anything adults are good at, it’s think before acting. i guess everyone learns over time to think before they act. and in this dangerous world parents have to make short-cuts in the process with spankings and harsh tones, to keep children from being run-over by the mechanical monsters we build, from stabbing themselves with the sharp instruments we make, from getting lost in a disjointed community with sociopaths (of our creation) lurking around every corner.
of all the things to teach them, why focus on that necessary evil that comes closest to hampering their free spirit? is this logic akin to that of homeopathic medicine?
if free will exists, why does it require anything?
you could make an argument that if free will exists, then survival, or success, requires that it be tempered with calm forethought - but that doesn’t mean not teaching those things will lessen free will per se (except for the incidental point that if you get hit by a bus you won’t have free anything).
anyway, my belief is that children should (in addition to being taught by example) be given as much freedom as reasonably possible.
and that’s certaintly square with nurturing free will in children.
