Certainly I do not “lack free will” if that means I am in jail, or never uncertain of my future decisions, or in a brain-state where my emotions and morals fail to determine my actions in the usual way.
A question I would like advice from others on:
I frequently find myself in a brain-state where my emotions and morals fail to determine my actions in what most people call the ‘usual way’. Essentially, at certain times I am “along for the ride”, and have no capacity to influence my behavior until the ride has come to a full and complete stop. I assert that this is usually triggered by external stimulus, but I acknowledge, dear reader, that you have no reason to accept that excuse.
What is the correct thing to do in these situations, given that there is no possibility to choose what to do in these situations—and given that others have no reason to accept “sorry about my freak-out, I have PTSD” as anything but a craven attempt to turn bad behavior into a ploy for sympathy?
Yes, being in a brain-state like that can be really surreal, but it does happen. Heck, I’ve been in brain-states where I literally couldn’t parse sentences and still have people be offended because I’m ‘not listening’. Saying “look I know I seem conscious but my brain literally does not work right now, please come back later” never helps.
The correct solution, of course, is to anticipate this happening in advance and choose your actions so as to get the desired outcome while taking into account that you may lose control. People are also MUCH more likely to listen if you warn them in advance, because then it doesn’t seem so much like an excuse. People are also much more likely to be reasonable when they’re not in a group.
I will, however, issue a very important warning: The stance you take on this issue may strongly influence how often it happens. If you believe “I just don’t have the willpower to do X”, you will have less willpower available and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. I think this goes a long way to explain WHY “I couldn’t control myself!” isn’t accepted as an excuse, generally speaking. (the rest is lack of imagination/refusal to acknowledge that people can be different). I think one of the greatest flaws on Less Wrong currently is that people do not sufficiently acknowledge that your beliefs directly influence how well your brain performs.
A question I would like advice from others on:
I frequently find myself in a brain-state where my emotions and morals fail to determine my actions in what most people call the ‘usual way’. Essentially, at certain times I am “along for the ride”, and have no capacity to influence my behavior until the ride has come to a full and complete stop. I assert that this is usually triggered by external stimulus, but I acknowledge, dear reader, that you have no reason to accept that excuse.
What is the correct thing to do in these situations, given that there is no possibility to choose what to do in these situations—and given that others have no reason to accept “sorry about my freak-out, I have PTSD” as anything but a craven attempt to turn bad behavior into a ploy for sympathy?
Yes, being in a brain-state like that can be really surreal, but it does happen. Heck, I’ve been in brain-states where I literally couldn’t parse sentences and still have people be offended because I’m ‘not listening’. Saying “look I know I seem conscious but my brain literally does not work right now, please come back later” never helps.
The correct solution, of course, is to anticipate this happening in advance and choose your actions so as to get the desired outcome while taking into account that you may lose control. People are also MUCH more likely to listen if you warn them in advance, because then it doesn’t seem so much like an excuse. People are also much more likely to be reasonable when they’re not in a group.
I will, however, issue a very important warning: The stance you take on this issue may strongly influence how often it happens. If you believe “I just don’t have the willpower to do X”, you will have less willpower available and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. I think this goes a long way to explain WHY “I couldn’t control myself!” isn’t accepted as an excuse, generally speaking. (the rest is lack of imagination/refusal to acknowledge that people can be different). I think one of the greatest flaws on Less Wrong currently is that people do not sufficiently acknowledge that your beliefs directly influence how well your brain performs.