In an introduction topic, I brought up the thought that infidelity is ingrained in our DNA- essentially that we’re left with some remnant of urges which often disturb our social norms, like monogamy.
Tisha argues that..
and I would agree on a general level- however the line doesn’t seem so clear-cut to me.
Animals have decision making too- humans are even animals, according to science. Octopuses do incredible things with tools, and elephants have complex social relationships. Fish select algae that they eat and ‘farm’ them- weeding out undesirable types.
And humans definitely have instincts. Our self-control and distance from our ancestors has made it easier to suppress or decide against or for them, but when it comes to subjects like infidelity, or moral choices- what is actually going on our minds?
We have the idea that people have ‘free will’ and that hurting or helping another is blameworthy or praiseworthy, and there is a concept of ‘moral responsibility’ to it all- but is that fair?
To illustrate my point, I present something called the free-will dillemma:
We go through life making choices based on our reasons- but what gives us these reasons? Our experiences? Our theories, like facts about the universe?
Did we choose these experiences to happen? No. We didn’t choose to grow up in the area we did, the time, the school, the nation.
Either our actions and choices have reasons (causes) or they don’t. Eventually, in the chain of reasons, you have physical causes. Your parents met and birthed you because ______ and they were born because ____.
It goes on and on. Eventually it becomes apparent that all you think and decide is merely the result of all events previous that choice. This theory is called ‘determinism.’
But what if its wrong?
Then there is no cause to your reasons or actions, or there is a break in the chain, and the result is random.
The total result is that if it’s random, it isn’t your fault. If it’s the result of causes from even before you were born, it isn’t your fault.
So why do we blame people for anything? It doesn’t seem to make sense in the face of the illusion of free will. Our choices are either ‘detemined’ and not our fault, or we’re insane.
I think that instincts are just part of the set of causes which determine our behavior, and our ability to defend against them, (or make any choice freely) is overestimated.
Thoughts on cheating/determinism/decisions/humans and how they differ from animals?