Now that class has begun, my mind has suddenly started to have purpose again.
As a Psychology major we have a lot of debates and discussions, one that stuck out to me particularly today was Determinism vs. Free Will. The paper we had to write about, was which side that we took, you could not fall in between. Then in class we talked about all the different view points and it had me thinking...
Determinism- The belief in universal causation. Implies that whatever happens is based on antecedents such that, given them, nothing else could happen.
Free Will- The assumption that human beings make choices that are to some degree independent of antecedent conditions.
I initially believed in free will reason being that was how I was taught in church growing up. That God made us so we could have the free will to do what we want so that we could choose if we want to love Him. The purpose was so God was loved genuinely, not forced. But then when we started talking in class I realized was there more to it then having "choices".
So lets not think of this subject religiously.
In class we discussed that (for the people who were for free will), determinism means that if your dad was a drunk and abusive, then that means you will be too. Therefore, people believed in free will because you have the choice to change who you are predetermined to be.
Then for the people who were for determinism stated that well you can't choose if you want to die, its going to happen regardless. Also was talked about that everything you do will lead up to your destiny, or who you're suppose to be. Some people who are born, don't decided to have a mental illness, its what they were born into because of the results of their parents (whether that's genetics, or if you believe bad things happened to bad people, which was also discussed).
It seems as if there was way more people who were far more on the determinism side. I personally noted to myself, that I do tend to say "if its meant to be, then it'll happen." So does that mean I think everything we do is already determined? Honestly I don't know, and if we didn't have this assignment I probably wouldn't of even thought about it. Just wanted to share some of the knowledge I learned today and maybe get your brain moving again as mine was.
