Comment author: dunno 01 April 2014 10:38:16AM 2 points [-]

Does compatibilism recognize a difference between "we have free will" and "we have a will"?

Comment author: Slackson 12 March 2014 07:35:42AM *  4 points [-]

I'm looking for a simple an aesthetic symbol for humanism and humanity, from our ancestors looking at the stars and wondering why, and telling each other stories, and caring for each other in the distant past, to the invention of agriculture, democracy, civilization, the Enlightenment and the Renaissance, the improvement in the human condition, technology and knowledge and truth.

I think some of you know what I mean. Humanism Pt. 3 style chills.

Ideas I've thought of: hands, sails, brains, seeds, eyes, sprouts, flames. I was looking at getting symbols of both Apollo and Dionysus, but Dionysus in particular doesn't have anything particularly minimalist. An outline of human isn't connected strongly enough to the ideal I want to symbolize. The typical Happy Human is ugly. The "h+" thing is too narrow, and not visual enough.

EDIT:

The most appealing idea for me currently is a small sprout with a candle flame in between two or four leaves, inspired by the image and story here, maybe with the roots somehow obviously analogs of neurons. What do you all think of that?

Comment author: dunno 12 March 2014 04:18:07PM 0 points [-]

An upward arrow shaped like a human looking up?

Comment author: Sophronius 08 March 2014 08:04:05PM *  1 point [-]

Yes, free will is a good example of a subject that is often made ridiculously complicated. (Edit: Removed the bit that was wrong). Here's my quick (edited) attempt on free will:

What does it mean to have Free will? Presumably it means that "you" decide your actions freely. If "you" is your conscious brain, then clearly you do affect your decisions for if this were not the case you would not have evolved a conscious brain in the first place. The fact that it can be predicted what decision you will make does not make it any less your decision, so this is irrelevant. However, your actions are restrained by your environment and influenced by instincts and unspoken thoughts and feelings as well. All in all, it can be said that we have limited free will, though the concept itself is confusing and better done away with.

I was actually thinking about writing and posting a Mini Meta-ethics Q&A in this style. There is so much overly convoluted writing and general confusion on the subject that I feel there would be added value in this. What do you (and others) think?

Comment author: dunno 11 March 2014 01:25:49PM 0 points [-]

Determinism means that you were not the creator of the circumstances that led to the decision you made. So, in a sense, it does make it not really "your" decision.

Comment author: RowanE 18 February 2014 12:50:17PM 3 points [-]

Well, that sounds obviously wrong - it would mean you could start with a universe you liked, scale up the population without changing average quality of life at all, and end up with a universe in which you want to destroy all life.

Comment author: dunno 18 February 2014 01:27:43PM 0 points [-]

What makes this obviously wrong? I mean, aside from preferences, why would it not make sense to start with a universe in a current state you like and end up with a state you dislike?

Comment author: Dagon 18 February 2014 08:17:50AM 1 point [-]

In that case (which I believe is not true for almost any modern human, so this is a purely theoretical answer), it's logical to conclude that it'd be good for you to cease to exist. In order to prefer that others so cease (assuming you're a utilitiarian), you'd need to believe that every individual has a similar weighting.

Comment author: dunno 18 February 2014 12:03:49PM 0 points [-]

If I ceased to exist there would still be people that suffered without a choice. Ceasing to exist wouldn't change this while if everything ceased to exist, it'd change.

Comment author: RowanE 18 February 2014 09:57:08AM 1 point [-]

Only if you also do not expect there to be enough happy living to outweigh the amount of suffering.

Comment author: dunno 18 February 2014 12:00:24PM 0 points [-]

This just doesn't seem right. Perhaps no amount of happy living outweighs suffering beyond a certain amount.

Comment author: dunno 17 February 2014 10:16:39PM 0 points [-]

If suffering has far greater dis-utility for you than happy living has utility, is it logical to conclude that it'd be a good thing if the universe ceased to exist, thereby preventing all future suffering at the cost of all future life?

Comment author: RowanE 12 February 2014 03:55:40PM 8 points [-]

One person being horribly tortured for eternity is equivalent to that one person being copied infinite times and having each copy tortured for the rest of their life. Death is better than a lifetime of horrible torture, and 3^^^3, despite being bigger than a whole lot of numbers, is still smaller than infinity.

Comment author: dunno 13 February 2014 09:57:37AM 0 points [-]

What if the 3^^^3 people were one immortal person?

Comment author: dunno 12 February 2014 02:19:30PM 1 point [-]

Would you prefer that one person be horribly tortured for eternity without hope or rest, or that 3^^^3 people die?