Upon recollecting Thursday's class, I found myself in a state of confusion. Seeing as our conclusion was somewhat open ended, I decided to do a little meditating of my own. When meditating, I thought about what was said about the difference between a person's mind and brain. As was said in class The brain is an essential organ to the body, while the mind is more subjective. There is nothing tangible about the mind, yet we know its there. I found that upon meditating that there is nothing that leads me to believe that my free will does not exist.
In class, we relied on the explanation of scientific advancement to determine whether or not human behavior can be predicted. Just as the infinite number of Pi shows signs of patterns in groupings of numbers, Scientists can find patterns in human behavior. Such patterns can be applied to predicting the behavior of criminals. Scientists create algorithms which in turn can be used to predict crime waves in certain neighborhoods. However, all of these algorithms and predictions are completely based off of the subconscious mind. If a robber knew that there was an attempt to predict his behavior, then he would obviously do something he would not normally do. From that I can derive that the subconscious mind is very predictable, but the conscious mind is not. A human's behavior can only be predicted to a certain extent. For instance, I don't believe that a scientist can predict whether or not I am going to order soup or salad at Olive Garden, when I don't even know the answer. The only data that scientist would possibly have to go off of would be my previous orders, in other words, my tendencies. When taking a step back from this idea, I realize that these scientific predictions would be made without me knowing it, making the subconscious mind completely dominant.
In conclusion,I do not believe that it is possible to predict the behavior of a human completely, no matter many advancements are made on the study of the human brain. humans do indeed have the choice of free will. The brain is not a clock, it is not a machine, or a computer program. However, the brain is essentially the concept in which machines are based off of. I don't think everything can be explained by science, there are always going to be things that we as humans are incapable of understanding.
I agree with this idea that scientist will not be able to fully determine all of a human's actions based upon past observations. The only thing scientists could do would be to make well-educated predictions, and they are just that: predictions. Free will allows us to change; had a scientist tried to predict my actions based upon my brain and self when I was five, I am sure they would be very wrong about my current self. The brain is a marvelous organ that allows things tangible and intangible to mesh. As for the conscious mind, we can see that its scope depends on our brain development by the fact that close to no one remembers their first years as a child. As we grow, our brain develops and our conscious (and subconscious) becomes more sophisticated. Such is proof that scientists, no matter how strategic or educated, would not be able to determine what actions or feelings I would experience from the brain, or conscious mind, of my five-year-old self.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your argument. In class we were speaking about how the mind is like a machine. It's not DR. J used her phone as an example. But if we were to ask her phone (Siri) a question it would give us the answer without having a choice. But if she were to ask one of her students, we would have several options. We could do it, ask why or say no because, unlike machines, we have free will.
ReplyDeleteOur free will is another way our minds cannot be mapped out. We have choices. Just because my personality or tendencies point to one action doesn't mean that I'll always do that. Since we do have free will we as humans can always be spontaneous.
I can not say that I agree with your conclusion that scientists will not be able to fully understand the human brain. The brain is like a machine with hard wired synapses that can be mapped and someday could be predicted. The reason that many people believe that there is free will and that the brain is not simply just an extremely complex machine is because it is the most complex machine so to speak known to man and yet not understood by man. I think that throughout history there have been many things that had once been thought impossible to understand and thus explained by an extra ordinary reason. Thus the reason that many people think that there is a character that is unique to the human brain that is beyond explanation presently by science. I think though that in the future science will be able to completely explain the brain.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of your argument. No one is capable of completely understanding the human mind except for God. It is just extremely complex and their are numerous facets to explore. It is one of those things that seems infinite and even though we possess our own mind, we will never know everything that there is to know about it. I agree that human free will does define our actions and that no one can predict what we choose to do...not even a psychic. We basically go with the flow. No one knows what is going to happen tomorrow or the next day or years later. We define our own actions to a certain degree but as humans we are unpredictable. I agree that the mind is something that cannot be understood through science as well. It is infinite.
ReplyDeleteI would like to agree with Will in that the brain is most likely a compilation of algorithms. However, when taken into account how many thoughts, decisions, and actions that a human has, it would be quite difficult to map an exact prediction. Plus, the brain develops according to how others impression on it as well, meaning the variables of all interactions with other people with their own thoughts must be taken into effect, meaning there are way more variables than just the mind itself but also the environment around it and the other humans that impression on it. While computers can compile huge amounts of data and are becoming more advanced faster than I can type this sentence, they would need to be eons beyond what their current capabilities are to make completely accurate predictions about human actions. Although theoretically possible if the mind is indeed no different than an advanced "machine," I think we are a long way off from computers making %100 accurate predictions on the mind.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your argument that it is impossible to predict human behavior completely. Although I think that science advancement will eventually lead to a complete map of the brain, I do not think that scientists will ever fully understand the human conscience. As science advances, we might be able to make generalized predictions about how people will act or what they will do in certain situations. However, I do not believe that anyone will ever be able to explain why people do what they do, which is why I think that a person's conscience is impossible to fully understand. For example, over years of studying we can predict how a baby will progress and mature over their first year of life. We can guess when they will first be able to walk, talk, or sit up. However, I think that there are so many exceptions to these predictions that it is impossible to know how every individual baby will progress, or how they will react in certain situations since we cannot even understand them.
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