[jquery]

That line of thinking is well-suited to justify one's own failings while minimizing the successes of others. While I cannot argue against determinism--philosophy isn't my line of expertise--I don't think it is a useful model to go through life with. Call me old fashioned, but even as an atheist I've found having a "moral" view of the universe is far more productive. Personally it is more motivating and liberating to believe in free-will than to believe one is merely an automaton... true or not. Of course you might say I'm compelled to believe in such a way... so I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. :)

[jamii]

One could choose to use it to excuse one's failings but that doesn't make the argument invalid.

You have to understand your enemy. I know I am incredibly absent-minded. I've learnt through such reading that this is not a failing of willpower or discipline so all the people crying 'just try harder, stop being lazy' are wrong. These are not solutions to the problem.

Of course that doesn't mean I give up on being an adult. I just find solutions that don't revolve around some Victorian working ethic; 'hard work is the solution to all ills'

[rue]

Some people will always fail to reach some goal the same way some may naturally gravitate to it whereas another may need a little work and yet another a lot of work to get there be the issue beating addiction or paying your bills on time.

"Free will" is not some state of consciousness that exists completely isolated from your biological processes, experiences etc. And, quite importantly, if something like it is assumed to exist, it will not be the same level of "free" for everyone.

That said, it is most certainly worth trying to reform one's bad habits. It is just not necessarily fair to make a moral judgment dependent on their success. Naturally this then extends to the bad habit of making moral judgments so I guess that gets us nowhere, which is pretty much how the universe works.

[Shorel]

I don't understand why you post that having a 'moral' view is something that atheists don't normally do.

Morality and ethics do not come from religion, they were only absorbed by religion the way bacteria absorbs advantageous genes.

[Daniel_Newby]

"Call me old fashioned, but even as an atheist I've found having a 'moral' view of the universe is far more productive."

Morality certainly is a useful approximation for rapidly predicting the effects of actions. My point is that it is not a useful basis for hacking the underlying machinery to take different actions.