• UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    5 months ago

    You are either saying that you can predict where a fly is going to go when you set it free or you are saying that a fly has internal agency.

    If the fly lacks agency, you would be able to predict its movement given a sufficiently accurate set of information.

    If it has agency, you could not.

    • merc@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      5 months ago

      It’s difficult to predict the path of a leaf floating in the wind, but I don’t think anybody would say a leaf has agency.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        5 months ago

        It’s difficult to predict the path of a leaf floating in the wind

        Orders of magnitude less difficult, as the leaf can’t glean your intent and respond accordingly.

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            5 months ago

            That the movement of a leaf in the wind is less complex than the electro-chemical processes of a human brain?

            With enough time and math, certainly.

            • merc@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              5 months ago

              The point is, you were using the point that a fly’s movements were complex to argue that a fly has internal agency. But, a leaf floating on the wind also has complex movements. To me, that makes it seem like complex movements aren’t a solid indicator of agency.

              If you’re now talking about dissection, that’s a whole different argument.

              • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                5 months ago

                a fly’s movements were complex to argue that a fly has internal agency

                A fly has the ability to observe its surroundings and adjust its position in response to outside stimulus. A leaf does not. That, alone, adds a dimension of activity that the first possesses and the second doesn’t.

                You can argue that the fly is still a deterministic agent, but the ability to observe and respond adds a dimension of activity that’s more complex than a leaf, which can only move based on the surrounding wind currents.

    • brrt@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      5 months ago

      You missed the point while drawing your circular argument.

      Take what you said and replace fly with human. Wait here I’ll do it for you:

      If a human lacks agency, you would be able to predict its movement given a sufficiently accurate set of information.

      If it has agency, you could not.

      Now tell me how you will acquire a sufficiently accurate set of information about a human and its environment to test your hypothesis.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        5 months ago

        Now tell me how you will acquire a sufficiently accurate set of information about a human and its environment to test your hypothesis.

        You can’t. That’s a significant problem of identifying the existence or absence of “Free Will”.