3 pointsby hansmayer11 hours ago1 comment
  • dtagames8 hours ago
    Dawkins's books are worthy of study and his insights into biology and social behavior are valuable. But like many scientists, he's unwilling to admit the concept of choice or free will, and this leads to delusions of built-in determinism.

    Classical physics can argue about forces moving a ball and quantum physics addresses what goes on inside the atoms of which the ball is made, but neither system can tell you if Johnny will decide to catch the ball or not. You can read 30 books about the philosophy of physics without mention of human will!

    Dawkins has fallen into this same trap, "science as religion" in which he believes that a fixed, god-like underlying system controls everything. This fallacy, inherited directly from Western religions, caused problems for all kinds of scientists and philosophers from Galileo to Kant to Einstein. So it's not surprising that Dawkins falls into the same illusion. If you believe there is no human consciousness or will anyway, then machines have "it" too.