Victim of the Brain

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8576072297424860224&hl=nl
More interesting than most of the internet wasteland...

Bogged down by (the whole thing isn't much more than) religious questions. Free will, souls, etc.

There is the idea in the christian religion that God is absolutely perfect and knows everything... but if that's so why did he create imperfect creatures which commit sin whom he's then going to stick in eternal fire? "Well, Jonnyboy, God gave us free will."

"Gee dad, what's that?"

"A nonsense word designed to win an argument that can't actually be won Jonnyboy. Like if you asked me how a chipmunk can beat an attacking bear. I could say he'd use his special bear killing zap gun; provided it's the chipmunk god of course. The Christian God can do whatever he wants and when obvious holes are pointed out he'll just do whatever to cover up."

The only meaning of the term free will that doesn't make it nonsensical is saying it means god had no idea what he was doing really when he made us. Just randomly mixed some stuff together and he doesn't actually know how we'll turn out.

Which would be fine with me. I'm not the one claiming he's all knowing.

Victim of the Brain hits the same idea with musing if our every action is predetermined. I suppose on a physics level you have some random action but ignoring that it is a nonsense question really as... yes our actions our predetermined, we are "victims of our brains" I suppose... and so what?

Yes, an all knowing creature already knows everything you're going to do. Of course, thus an all knowing creature would find you quite boring.

The attempt to understand intelligence is an attempt to reach that point of being all knowing and is running into the same thing. I don't think it's something to make much of, yet people keep making much of it.

It is somewhat a problem of language. The term 'free will' doesn't quite describe what is going on. It's a devious word made by christian apologetics. Of course you're free to act as you desire. Of course you have your own will. It just so happens an all knowing creature woud be able to predict everything you're going to do. And that you are a "prisoner" or victim of your brain. You're not free from your brain. Mostly a failure in our abilities to think at all that anyone finds this interesting.

..in the nuclear warhead story there is no reason he'd go back to his brain in Tulsa. What follows is just a confusion based on that, and more God stuff.

Basically I'm saying the same thing as Hofstadter. I don't think it's an important thing to spend much time on though... or name the movie after but perhaps that's just the direction the film maker took this. Hopefully this book by Hofstadter (Godel, Escher, Bach) will be better.

85:00: "Emotion and intelligence are inseperable." I suppose I disagree.

Emotions are the side effects of certain thought processes.