What is Determinism?: Determinism is a philosophical view that believes that everything follows the laws of nature, and since we are a part of nature, our choices, our beliefs and our actions all follow this law as well. So nothing we do is really out of free will, but instead out of our accordance to this natural law.
Opponents to Determinism: Many philosophers do believe in free will, notable among them John Locke, father of the American ideals. There is another philosophy that believes in predestined choices; fatalism, but the reason for predestination is completely different. In fatalism, the driving force behind everything is a god or deity, in determinism, it’s the fundamental laws of nature.
Another reason that certain people refute determinism is the seeming break down of known natural laws at the extremes. We have still yet to discover what causes these breakdowns. This is not to say that natural laws are false, but to say that they are not completely proven.
Philosophical Implications: Determinism posits that you don’t have any free will, and that anything we do is simply due to the laws of nature. This, very similar to existential nihilism, could be taken as either wildly oppressive, or supremely freeing.
Real world implications: Determinism could create a lack of appreciation for anyone’s accomplishments, as it wasn’t really them that accomplished it, but instead their natural predestination. This could further extend to accomplishments of your own leading to a decreased self esteem. Or maybe a sense of freedom, at believing that nothing you do, is really yours, and you don’t really have to take responsibility for any of it.
This one was another fun one, I hope y’all enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.
Stay curious,
-J.P.
If determinism was real would I do this 😙😕😙😏😗😏😒😍😞😚😕😫😫☺️🙁😩☺️😩🥵🥶🥶😞😳😡