badgenome on 12 May 2012
| Jay520 said: @ Badgenome I'm not just saying genetic & environmental factors play a large role in deciding who we are. I'm saying they are the ONLY factors that determine who we are. As for the last sentence. I'd say a person will only want to do such a thing if his environmen pressures him to do so. If a person does try to overcome some environmental influences, it's only because some other environmental influence encouraged him to do so. For example, most kids that grow up in the projects won't be very successful at adulthood. Because they've grown believing that being 'cool' is better than being smart in school. And these are genuine deep beliefs. They don't choose to believe these things. Their brains have just determined that way of life to 'best' using the best of its ability. Of course, some kids do graduate college, and be successful. Why? Because of other environmental influences. |
Well, I think determinism and free will are both true (compatablism). Environmental and cultural factors have incredibly profound effects on people, no doubt, and it's true that most people won't ultimately deviate much from the norm. But they can, and some do, and the reason they can and do is because of what we call free will.
