Willmarite said-
The human ego has a need to feel special. As you say JWs as well as many others need to feel special that they are God's "special people". Perhaps others feel they're special because they feel they are more logical than others. Perhaps others feel special because of financial success. In other words nobody is immune to the belief that they are cut above everyone else and others "just don't get it".
Sure, but that only leads to the next question, which one truly is special?
A JW elder who washes windows may call himself a 'spiritual surgeon' and place himself on par with MDs, but do you want him to treat you in the ER, or operate on you when you need a quadruple bypass? Obviously not: you want someone who's PROVEN himself capable and has tons of experience, having successfully treated other patients.
Someone's desire to feel special doesn't automatically make anyone entitled to treat them as if they ARE special, for if everyone who want to be a rich and famous rock/movie star were actually famous, then we'd have alot of mediocre entertainers (which we DO, so maybe that's not the best example, LOL)!
In most societies, though, we reward those who actually can "walk the talk" who've shown an aptitude for learning, and who've sacrificed years of their own lives in diligent study in learning to provide special services that not everyone can do, whether famous musicians or unknown providers. Heck, a plumber (or window washer) should be competent at what they do, since why would you want a tradesmen who is only going to do a poor job?
Bohm said- but hawkins talk about free will according to the common intuition it is agency outside our minds... (Look at the quote).
For the record, Profs. Stephen Hawking and Richard Dawkins both have similar last names, and are often confused for the other, even though they are separate people. You're creating a hybrid with that spelling.
The problem with using a term like 'free will' is it has different meanings in philosophical vs theological discussions. In this thread, the term was introduced by Willmarite in reference to the theological meaning (as indicated by the vacuum of purpose which remains when believers lose a future promise of a Paradise Earth, and encountered when learning of the philosophies of Russell or Harris).
Bohm said- how does our inability to control our brain give us free will?
Perhaps it would've been more accurate to say that we all should strive to maximize our sense of free will, i.e. the sense of being in control of our lives. Whether we actually have it or not is a moot point, as long as we strive for it.
I'm thinking of the sniper who climbed to the top of the Univ of Texas in the 1960's, and started shooting people (he was later killed by Poice). The question everyone asked was, how could this individual, an ex-Boy Scout troop leader, do this?
Upon autopsy, a tumor was found in his brain near an area known to be associated with strong emotions like rage; if he had been alive, that finding likely would've been seen as a mitigating factor and taken into consideration in his trial. But the question remains: did he have free will? Could he have fought off those urges?
Who knows? Worst case scenario would say NO, he was completely overpowered by his urges and HAD to kill.
That's why I say that within limits, all we can do is only to strive to exercise and maximize our sense of free will, remembering that as the Bible says, "unforesceen circumstances befall all", which is another way of saying that life is unpredictable, and that's what makes it so surprising! You never know what's going to happen next, whether good OR bad. In his case, he was dealt an unfortunate situation which no one could overcome. But the fact that could happen to us doesn't mean we should curl up into a ball and die now, just in case we might get such a tumor, right?
That's crazy, as you pay your money, and you take your chances....
I'd say that the inability to deal emotionally with the unknown is the same driving force that explains why many people turn to religions like the JWs, in the first place: they're starved and primed to receive the comforting message of assurance by believing in all these great promises, and cannot handle the prospect of realizing it may NOT be "The Truth", and do everything to run from uncertainty. Hence they end up running from one cult to another.
Instead, it's better to learn to embrace and accept the unknown, and, to paraphrase the old line from AA, "strive to change the things in life you can, don't sweat over that which you cannot control, and learn to discern between the two".
Or to hijack a line from Winston Churchill, understand that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself".
Adam
