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by kikokikokiko 109 days ago
To me, the fact that quantum mechanics is intrinsically "random" and unknowable beforehand, is what makes living bearable in this universe as a sentient being. If we, two legged viruses that we are, could reach a level of understanding that could show the universe to be fully deterministic and every future state to be knowable given that you know the current states, then this human condition would be impossible to stand. I love the fact that we just can't predict the future. It's what makes existing be a good thing instead of a bad one.
4 comments
lukol 109 days ago
#1: You do not want randomness. You may believe you do until the Titanic crashes into your front yard and your significant vanishes into thin air. You want quite a lot of predictability, up to a degree where it might not even matter if things at the lowest level of existence are not perfectly deterministic.

#2: What's so bad about thinking about life as an exciting rollercoaster ride? The tracks are laid but the ride is still fun.

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kikokikokiko 109 days ago
If everything is deterministic, i.e. determined, there's no free will, so you/I are just a NPC. I prefer to live in a universe where my conscious decisions matter, or at least can't be predicted beforehand.
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diacritical 109 days ago
Randomness doesn't imply free will. What if you/I are NPCs that just roll the dice before doing something? It's not you that chose the outcome, it's the dice, i.e. the laws of physics.

I don't know how free will could actually work with any kind of universe governed by a set of laws, whether they include randomness or not. So I don't believe in it, but of course in my day to day life I act as if it exists.

Yet I don't know how qualia or subjective experiences could actually work with any kind of universe governed by a set of laws, whether they include randomness or not. But I believe I have this subjective view of the world that doesn't seem to be explainable with a set of equations.

So it's weird. At least philosophy and science agree that.

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firebot 109 days ago
Compatibleism is when you have both free will and determinism.

What you seem to prefer is libertarianism.

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phacker007 109 days ago
I knew you were going to say that.
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patcon 109 days ago
agreed! and here you go! https://thoughtforms.life/symposium-on-the-platonic-space/
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kykat 109 days ago
Fully agree, feels good to say that it's all just kind of random.
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