I use the word illusion when this happens I guess.
Why not just call them “mental concepts”?
There’s a case for calling free will an illusion.
You can directly stimulate a neuron to get someone to move his arm up. If you then ask him why he moved his arm he will usually make up an explanation that explains his behavior. He will explain you why he made the free choice to move his arm. Behavior caused by posthypnotic suggestions produces the same effect. T
People makes up a plausible sounding justification for their behavior that’s different from the true cause of their behavior if they aren’t aware of the true cause. There’s the illusion that the person could have made a choice to act differently.
As a result it makes some sense to call free will a cognitive illusion. I doesn’t feel to me like “Money” is in the same class. Money is simply a concept. I don’t feel on a very primal level that a dollar bill is money the way I feel like I’m having control over my own actions. I identify a dollar bill as money because I learned from someone else that it’s money.
Given the history of money I don’t think there strong enough evolutionary pressure to have a direct experience of money the way we have a direct experience of free will.
Why not just call them “mental concepts”?
There’s a case for calling free will an illusion.
You can directly stimulate a neuron to get someone to move his arm up. If you then ask him why he moved his arm he will usually make up an explanation that explains his behavior. He will explain you why he made the free choice to move his arm. Behavior caused by posthypnotic suggestions produces the same effect. T
People makes up a plausible sounding justification for their behavior that’s different from the true cause of their behavior if they aren’t aware of the true cause. There’s the illusion that the person could have made a choice to act differently.
As a result it makes some sense to call free will a cognitive illusion. I doesn’t feel to me like “Money” is in the same class. Money is simply a concept. I don’t feel on a very primal level that a dollar bill is money the way I feel like I’m having control over my own actions. I identify a dollar bill as money because I learned from someone else that it’s money.
Given the history of money I don’t think there strong enough evolutionary pressure to have a direct experience of money the way we have a direct experience of free will.
Agreed!