Originally Posted by
Lazors
Yes, that's what I meant. Only that the decision that "was already made for me" is the only decision there's ever going to be. You don't make decisions that go against what you think is wise just because you have a free will.
It's hard to explain what I mean, but if determinism is making a rational decision based on facts and judgement, what is the opposite?
The thing is, it's not just based on facts and judgements. It's also based on your genes, your neurochemical makeup and lots of other factors that we don't normally think has to do with our decision-making.
A example that determinists use is Charles Whitman. He's the guy that killed his mother and girlfriend before climbing to the top of a bell tower in Austin and shooting another 16 people. Clearly an evil guy, right? Well, perhaps not. After an autopsy was performed, it turned out that he had a large tumor in his brain pressing against his hypothalamus. Whitman, before his death, wrote about how he recognised that he wasn't really in control of his actions. It was determined by a commission that the tumor plausibly could have been the reason that Whitman did what he did. It's easy to see how other things, like our neurochemistry, may be affecting our decision-making in ways that we're unaware of.
Our decisions to do things aren't just based on our conscious thoughts. That's where the phrase, 'the illusion of free will' comes from. We certainly think that we're in charge of what we do, but that might not necessarily be the case.