| | "Man chooses the causes that shape his actions." It seems highly unlikely that the above statement is true.
It seems unlikely that man "chose" the external environment (sun, moon, Earth, radiation, chemistry, molecules, atoms). It seems that all of these were around long before Man. Surely these shape Man's actions.
It also seems unlikely that organisms initially "chose" to acquire the capacity to make decisions in the first place. It seems highly likely that Man gradually evolved from single-celled creatures that did not initially have the capacity for choice. The circumstances (complex physical causes and effects) caused the organisms to eventually evolve into organisms complex enough to possess the ability to choose.
Granted, the ability to choose affects the outcome/development of those creatures who can choose, once they are actually able to make choices. Nevertheless, as explained above, I suspect that the capacity for choice is a phenomenon that wasn't chosen. I suspect that choice is something unintentionally thrust upon organisms by a coldly impersonal and coldly uncaring process called Evolution.
Bottom line: Man brags about being able to shape his actions by his capacity to choose, which, ironically, is a capacity that wasn't "chosen" by anyone (including Man) in the first place.
Jay
(Edited by Jay Young on 5/02, 5:01pm)
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