It seems like a flippant remark on the subject of free will in a recent post has generated more than my average of less than one comment for anything I write here. Admittedly, half of the comments attached to that very post are from me. I suppose that free will is a really dear subject to up humans. If we believe that we have free will, it gives us a sense of purpose and responsibility, like we can make a good future for ourselves with the right decisions. As such, we may have happier lives. Not to believe in free will means that you see yourself as a victim of the nature of the universe and totally unable to exert any influence on what unfolds. As a result you may find yourself feeling irresponsible or miserable, safe in the knowledge that it was meant to be. In fact, you might even think that those who believe in free will do so because of anything but their free will to choose in what to believe. This sort of thinking could drive someone mad. This kind of thinking could also be an involuntary result of a shared history of events, language, none of which was ever your fault.
It's all a mystery to me. Does the cat have any intent? If so, what is it? If she is just a chemical machine reacting to environment according to genetic traits and behavioural conditioning, then why am I not the same?
It's truly beyond me.
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The cat is very much alive, or she wouldn't be welcome to sleep on me. She never even gets put in a box.
The guinea pigs have a box but I hadn't considered installing a radioactive source and insulating it against...
...basically, I just wanted you to know that I got the joke about the cat.
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