Posts by Hannah Thomas13

mellon said:Maybe consciousness and reason actually exist independently from our environment and genetics—maybe that’s where our freedom shows up.

If you follow that logic, nothing in this world, or this universe, or any other universe out there, actually holds any inherent meaning. Just look at the cosmos—all that matter you can see! Can matter just be its own purpose? Somewhere, there has to be free will existing outside of all this physical stuff and this entire universe. It has to, just for the sake of meaning itself.

But "meaning" is a human concept, not a feature of nature. We have this deep-seated need to find purpose in ourselves and everything else, and that drive is what makes us hunt for some kind of universal truth. Existence itself isn't looking for meaning; we're the ones looking for it. If we need it to get by, we can certainly invent something to serve that purpose, but that doesn't mean everything is required to have a point.

coppereagle18 said:That's a great way to put it! Honestly, I’m adding that one to my personal collection of favorite quotes right now.
👍

Heh, well then I guess I better claim the copyright, since that idea just popped into my head late one night.

Kenneth Hayes10 said:So, genetics and environment are big pieces of the puzzle, sure, but there’s also this deciding factor: the SELF. The "ME." What does that actually mean? Who am I?
Now I'm genuinely wondering—is my "self" a soul just as much as it's a body? Is it that single point where all my freedom finally shows up?

That "Self" you're talking about is really just your mind making choices from a bunch of different options. Honestly, trying to draw a line between the soul and the body feels like a lost cause to me. I don't even care much for the word "soul"—I'm more of a "reason" kind of person. I don't think you can split a human being into two separate parts because neither one works without the other. Without a physical body, the mind has no hardware to run on. But a body without a mind developing inside it? That's just an empty shell. They grow together as one unit throughout our lives, and that's where our decisions come into play.
Think of it like this: if we're playing a game of poker, your genetics are the hand you're dealt, and the environment represents all the other players at the table. But you? You're the one who decides how to play the hand.

Kenneth Hayes10 said:Generally speaking... I find myself wondering why I ever chose one path over another through free will. It feels like it all just boils down to accumulated experience, genetic makeup, and specific circumstances beyond our control—things shaped by everyone else's "freedoms." In fact, it seems like the only thing truly born from free will is experience itself, because we build our identities through those experiences over time. But if you trace it back and question every "free" decision, you eventually hit that very first choice made when there was no prior experience to draw from. At that point, the only remaining influences are genetics and circumstance.
Can anyone talk sense into me? Help me understand my actual role in any of this, because when I look at the variables of heredity, experience, and environment, it feels like there's no room left for "me" in the equation.

Genetics doesn't give you a straight answer. It’s not like there’s a blueprint somewhere stating exactly how much of X or Y you possess. Genetics mostly offers preferences or a general range of where you might land. Sure, your environment can narrow that window a bit, but there’s still plenty of breathing room for an individual to take responsibility and pick one option out of what's left. I don't think we can claim total predeterminism based on biology, because again, it’s not about one fixed outcome; it’s about a whole spectrum of possibilities. For example, someone's height is heavily influenced by their DNA, but genetics can really only say they'll likely fall somewhere between 5'7" and 6'3", giving a probability for every inch in between. Your genes won't dictate that you *have* to play basketball, but they might mean you have the height, coordination, and teamwork skills to be good at a sport like that. Even then, someone could choose volleyball just to spite everyone pushing them toward the court.
To sum it up, genetics and environment don't force a single path on us. Instead, they work together to set loose boundaries of probability. From there, it's up to us to make a choice within that chaos of possibilities.