Do You Really Have Control?

if i added an extra dot to the 5 on a dice and passed it off to someone else I'd have control over somebody else

that'd do me
 
JoeMercer'sWay said:
As the thread title says, do you really have control of your life? Do you really make your own decisions and exercise your free will to shape your life and do what you want, or is it really just a myth?

The reason I ask is because I've been contemplating the possibility that life is actually pre-determined and that possibly we have no control over our futures. What's to say that everything you believe, think or want to achieve is implanted as an idea by something far beyond our means of discovery, that actually controls us and chooses our path? What is free will? what is our conscience? is it us telling us what's right, or something else telling us what's right? where do you get an idea from? they come to you, who's to say something else hasn't planted that idea?.

The key to this is the fact that we are created to believe that we are in control, that we can choose our path in life and make our own decisions, but is it just a fad? you can't choose where, at what time or to whom you are born, you can't control your upbringing, it's dictated to you, and that makes you the person you are, and from there you can only do things within reason, why because for the vast majority something holds them back, and the exceptions, well maybe they are created to be different and to bring some entertainment and excitement to it all? Maybe we are only able to discover what we are allowed to, and believe what is subconsciously dictated to us?

If I lost you in the first 5 seconds of this, then sorry, but really this is an argument of the standard model against everything being set by something beyond us that we will never discover, not necessarily a God, but we could just be a creation by another race in a far more giant setup we will never comprehend. What do you think?
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With all due respect and speaking purely philosophically, your question is pointless, as it pre-supposes the freedom of others to answer it, and so in asking the question, you answer it yourself. :)
 
On some atomic/quantum level the universe was mapped out in the instant it was created. The force at which the big bang occured was always going to create gravity, planets, create the conditions for life, leading to people, events etc etc . On a scientific level you could argue we have no free will and everything is feted to be.
You asking this question, me answering it - was always going to happen. In one way nothing like this could ever be designed. Having said that I do believe in a couple of hundred years we will be able to create worlds in computer code - whose to say those inhaitants would have any knowledge that what they are in is real? Maybe our reality is no different. Ad infinitum.
The mind boggles really. Am I speaking to you really? Or am I a program run to further expand your potential thought? A good experiment by those that run the system to see what would happen in their world.
If everything is real just introduce God, Satan and the Tree of Knowledge into the equation and suddenly there is choice. Freewill. The power to control your life. Or were you always going to think you were going to be in control of your life?

Althugh a border line athiest I like to believe that man has free will though I cannot dispute any scientific argument either.

Life's still what you make it in my book.
 
The Pope said:
On some atomic/quantum level the universe was mapped out in the instant it was created. The force at which the big bang occured was always going to create gravity, planets, create the conditions for life, leading to people, events etc etc . On a scientific level you could argue we have no free will and everything is feted to be.
You asking this question, me answering it - was always going to happen. In one way nothing like this could ever be designed. Having said that I do believe in a couple of hundred years we will be able to create worlds in computer code - whose to say those inhaitants would have any knowledge that what they are in is real? Maybe our reality is no different. Ad infinitum.
The mind boggles really. Am I speaking to you really? Or am I a program run to further expand your potential thought? A good experiment by those that run the system to see what would happen in their world.
If everything is real just introduce God, Satan and the Tree of Knowledge into the equation and suddenly there is choice. Freewill. The power to control your life. Or were you always going to think you were going to be in control of your life?

Althugh a border line athiest I like to believe that man has free will though I cannot dispute any scientific argument either.

Life's still what you make it in my book.
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some things you cannot change or alter no matter how hard you try, which formed part of the basis of my OP.
 
read too many self help books mate. try covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. You might not be in control but it may help you achieve more by becoming a robot. next thread = "Everyone has a choice" ......or..."Every decision has a consequence, be it good or bad"......"focus on the how, not the what".....be back soon, my bladders in control of my lap-top!
 
Given a free choice, what would you change?

Not the same as having 3 wishes or winning the lottery. The clue is in the word 'choice'.

A lot of people feel they have none, but I wonder if the notion free choice is just too scary for most people to deal with and it's actually much less worrying to assume there is 'no choice' when in fact there is.
 
mammutly said:
Given a free choice, what would you change?

Not the same as having 3 wishes or winning the lottery. The clue is in the word 'choice'.

A lot of people feel they have none, but I wonder if the notion free choice is just too scary for most people to deal with and it's actually much less worrying to assume there is 'no choice' when in fact there is.
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That is a very existentialist view of life to which I totally concur with.

While we may have little real genuine "control" over our lives, as there are way too many variables that can affect everything we do... the trick is how you respond to the hand that life deals you.

In that respect, you are quite simply responsible for every single action you take in your life. No one is blame other than yourself.

And, yes, it is extremely difficult trying to tell someone that everything they do is their choice.

Too many people believe that they "have to do things" and are compelled to follow a certain path, when the reality is that every one of us can choose to do what we want at any given time.

So, yes, it is hard for people to understand and accept that.
 
Only possession of great wealth can give you total control over your life ........

others just THINK they have control!!
 
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