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| Does a robot "want" to take care of those plants or is it programmed to do so? [image source: internet site] |
Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2010-12-29]: Scientists found out that the size of the brain amygdala is related to the numbers and complexity of social interactions the person has (source: web news). The bigger the amygdala the more social connections you have. But does the brain dictate our behavior or is it the other way around? Does an active social life lead to a bigger amygdala or does the bigger amygdala lead to a more active social life? Which is the cause and which is the result? Are we robots that act based on their programming and their available hardware or beings with free will? Many times we see what we want to see... And those who want to see only a soulless universe cannot have place for something more in their brain... If we do not have free will, then why do we still have the word “want” in our dictionaries? If we do not have free will, then who "programmed" us to think we have after all?
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