Well, we have at hand one excellent example of how emotional dysfunction (which in most cases results from emotional trauma created by parents in our developmental years) can affect most of what we say and do. Take a careful look at our poor excuse for a "president" and it will become obvious.
People don't like to admit that a person's parents shape our personalities far more than we might think, -until they get their master's degree or doctorate in psychology, child development, clinical social work, or related discipline. But just look at Trump and his emotional dysfunction.
Sort of. I think its all physics based on your awareness of choices and past experiences. Your brain works on Chemicals, a lack of or abundance of certain chemicals will effect your choices. Even if you are afraid of heights, you can still make the choice to face those fears and fly or even climb a ladder. I do think its a mixture of both, where if you were so aware of molecules and atoms' positions, you can predict what will happen, but you can make choices based off your predictions of the future and change your "fate", even if its goes against your brain's chemical make up.
But notice the question... "Are you determined to be as you are or do you make the choices yourself?" I would have been clearer if it were worded "Are you predestined to be as you are or do you make the choices yourself?" But aside from that, note "as you are". Even if you face your fear of heights, how do you measure up to "as you are"? How "are" you? You remain afraid of heights. That's how you are. Yes, you can act contrary in this case to your fears, but that doesn't change how you are.
Its a tough question because there are millions of years of physics that played a part in shaping who you specifically are, and what you will do in life. Its not really simply a "a" or "b" answer.
all that talk about birth of soul or whatever is marginal and inconsequential so I won't bother to deal with it the real question is this matter of so called "free will" which is utter garbage as far as I'm concerned - somebody drops an anvil on your head and you croak -- how does that prove "free will"? you walk along the street minding your own godd@mn business and someone takes a poke at you with a 44 caliber gun which croaks you - how does that prove any of that free will garbage? did innocent children walking the streets of Nagasaki who were disintegrated by the A Bomb exercising free will when they were croaked? Nonsense. There is no such thing as free will.
What was easy to figure out is that crooked Hillary would have been much much worse. So I guess there wasn't any contradiction or BS and how did we get on Trump? You're confused.
Your birth and the timing and manner of death were predetermined by you. Free will - and you can call it BS all month long and it won't change a thing. You have free will to believe what ever you want.................and so do we.
This is fair to say. I began this thread as a discussion outside of God and religion as it’s too prevalent, but it seems impossible to avoid in most philosophical discussions. Sometimes I feel in complete control, other times I feel at the mercy of the nature around me. Perhaps the truth lies between as it often does. Though I will admit this is a question that will always bounce back and forth.
I’ve leaned this way many times. Often those around us influence our decisions more than we realize. I may be able to choose between strawberry and vanilla, but perhaps I never had a choice of where to go. Choice often tunnels until the point of irrelevancy.