I wasn't really thinking of any particular type of realization. Just a change of thought is good enough for the purpose of discussion.ExpectantlyIronic wrote:(I haven't read any posts in this thread other then the OP, so forgive me if I repeat anything that's already been said.)
Matt Gregory,
I think that perhaps what you're referring to as a "realization" is what I would call a "Eureka moment": that second when you find a solution to whatever question has been bothering you, and it feels as if it's changed your entire perspective of the world. Something of an intellectual orgasm perhaps.
Yeah, me too.Nevertheless, I've had instances where such feelings accompanied a thought I later found to be false, or at least partially incorrect or incomplete. I've become weary of such things due to this, and due to the fact that the positive associations this experience places on an idea can give it an undue priority in one's mind.
We have to be careful not to project things onto people, though. Most people really do believe that they make choices independently of their environment. They may tell you different, but you can't normally find out someone's beliefs by what they say, you have to go by how they judge things to really find out. For example, if someone holds grudges against others then that's a sure sign that they believe in free will.Insofar as whether an individual is able to choose to have such an experience, I'd suggest not. I guess you could actively attempt to thwart it, but that would detract from a fella's meditations, I should imagine.
As for choice: If a fella were to say "I made a choice not to wear pants today," would you accuse him of lying? I'd suggest not. It would be understood that he was referring to the idea that he felt compelled to not wear pants, and thus acted upon this compulsion. The idea meant to be conveyed by the phrase would be that he didn't feel forced to not wear pants. Had he of possessed a different compulsion at the time he could have worn pants. I realize that the decisions we make are dependent upon circumstances, but that hardly invalidates the idea of "choice" as the term seems to be commonly used. The notion of a magical sort of "choice" strikes me as a phantom that philosophers love to slay, as if they hadn't created it themselves for that very purpose.
Anyway, what you say about compulsion makes sense to me. Choice can be thought of as a light form of compulsion. That is, we're all compelled by our environment, but some compulsions are stronger than others. When a particular compulsion becomes strong enough, it crosses a definitional threshold and becomes "compulsion" instead of "choice". That makes sense to me. Thanks!
