Can I make the choice to run over this squirrel, or does my personality decide what I do?
Who is “I”? What is there distinct from your personality that would be making this decision? There is suspiciously dualistic language throughout this post.
You would probably feel as if it wasn’t really you who decided to kill the squirrel.
You would? You’d really feel like some sort of external being took over? I suppose if a person was highly dissociated they might feel like this.
I think it’s more likely you just “wouldn’t know” (or wouldn’t consciously admit) why you decided to make a decision contrary to your evident personality. The truth would probably be that part of your brain actually liked the idea of splatting a squirrel at that particular moment, but justifying one’s actions as a slayer of helpless little squirrels is troublesome and so the decision came to be regretted and disowned by other parts of your cognitive machinery.
Since various studies have shown that unconscious decisions actually precede conscious awareness of a decision, it seems likely that the experience of free will simply provides the conscious mind an opportunity to weave an appropriately believable and self-flattering explanation for behavior one has already determined on executing. I’m drawing mostly on Kurzban in using this sort of language....
Apologies for the dualistic language. I am simply not the best writer, and if anyone wants to take a stab at cleaning the point up, I’d be quite happy.
You’re right that you probably wouldn’t feel like someone else took over. I kind of doubt you’d feel you wouldn’t know, either. Or rather: You wouldn’t know after the fact, but you probably would know during the fact. It would probably feel like being extremely high, and doing one of the ridiculous things we humans do when we’re in those states.
I agree that unconscious decisions usually precede conscious justifications. I figure that these are a large part of what makes a “personality,” and might further explain why personalities are so inflexible across time. Unless I’m greatly confused!
Can I make the choice to run over this squirrel, or does my personality decide what I do?
Who is “I”? What is there distinct from your personality that would be making this decision? There is suspiciously dualistic language throughout this post.
You would probably feel as if it wasn’t really you who decided to kill the squirrel.
You would? You’d really feel like some sort of external being took over? I suppose if a person was highly dissociated they might feel like this.
I think it’s more likely you just “wouldn’t know” (or wouldn’t consciously admit) why you decided to make a decision contrary to your evident personality. The truth would probably be that part of your brain actually liked the idea of splatting a squirrel at that particular moment, but justifying one’s actions as a slayer of helpless little squirrels is troublesome and so the decision came to be regretted and disowned by other parts of your cognitive machinery.
Since various studies have shown that unconscious decisions actually precede conscious awareness of a decision, it seems likely that the experience of free will simply provides the conscious mind an opportunity to weave an appropriately believable and self-flattering explanation for behavior one has already determined on executing. I’m drawing mostly on Kurzban in using this sort of language....
Apologies for the dualistic language. I am simply not the best writer, and if anyone wants to take a stab at cleaning the point up, I’d be quite happy.
You’re right that you probably wouldn’t feel like someone else took over. I kind of doubt you’d feel you wouldn’t know, either. Or rather: You wouldn’t know after the fact, but you probably would know during the fact. It would probably feel like being extremely high, and doing one of the ridiculous things we humans do when we’re in those states.
I agree that unconscious decisions usually precede conscious justifications. I figure that these are a large part of what makes a “personality,” and might further explain why personalities are so inflexible across time. Unless I’m greatly confused!