Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Rhea · 04-15-2003, 10:06 AM

It occured to me this morning*, that it has been conclusively demonstrated that Humans don't really need, or in many cases _want_ Free Will�.

It took a while. Hundreds of thousands of years. But Humankind has Finally developed a way to remove Free Will� and it has been wildly popular.

May I point your attention to... the television.

Not _only_ have we demonstrated that people are perfectly and completely content just _watching_ things happen, and even go so far as to decline to care about their own health in pursuit of it,

But new advances in technology, namely cable and satellite, have conclusively proved that we don't even care what's being shown. We do not care about having an impact on what keeps our minds happy. We are content to have it fed to us by someone else.

Given this revelation, I can finally understand what happens in heaven and why people in heaven don't care about their relatives or friends who are in hell.

God gives them a remote, and they are happy for eternity.

(* while my son was asking for a video and I was explaining that we should want to do other things instead.)

Stephen T-B · 04-15-2003, 10:41 AM

A remote and a million channels to flick through endlessly and mindlessly....

Rhea · 04-15-2003, 10:56 AM

infinite channels.

No wonder they don't need bodies.

spurly · 04-15-2003, 01:36 PM

I don't get it. Television entertainment = our desire not to have free will. That's a unique statement.

Kevin

Hedwig · 04-15-2003, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by spurly
I don't get it. Television entertainment = our desire not to have free will. That's a unique statement.

Kevin

Well, I personally laid my free will freely at the feet of the gods of reality television.

parkdalian · 04-15-2003, 03:27 PM

To me, television is the prime example of free will. 100 channels may give us the illusion of choice but we are forced to watch whatever content they give us.

Rhea · 04-15-2003, 07:49 PM

It's not so much of a stretch. TV proves that we don't need to be able to control our stimuli to be content. We can watch what's fed us and not even get up off the couch to change the channel. People do it all the time. "There was nothing on so I watched this dumb show".

It just occured to me when I thought about how glazed people get watching TV, that we were not exercising any kind of free will with regard to the story line. We just WATCH. People do this for 20+ hours every week. And that's the ones who work full time so that they can pay for their TV.

It made a picture in my mind. Quite plausible, how people can be content for eternity and never get in trouble because they have voluntarily relinquished their free will.

04-15-2003, 10:06 AM	#1
Rhea Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Recluse Posts: 9,040	*We Don't Actually Want* Free Will** It occured to me this morning, that it has been conclusively demonstrated that Humans don't really need, or in many cases _want_ Free Will�. It took a while. Hundreds of thousands of years. But Humankind has Finally developed a way to remove Free Will� and it has been wildly popular. May I point your attention to... the television. Not _only_ have we demonstrated that people are perfectly and completely content just _watching_ things happen, and even go so far as to decline to care about their own health in pursuit of it, But new advances in technology, namely cable and satellite, have conclusively proved that we don't even care what's being shown. We do not care about having an impact on what keeps our minds happy. We are content to have it fed to us by someone else. Given this revelation, I can finally understand what happens in heaven and why people in heaven don't care about their relatives or friends who are in hell. God gives them a remote, and they are happy for eternity. ( while my son was asking for a video and I was explaining that we should want to do other things instead.)

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04-15-2003, 10:41 AM	#2
Stephen T-B Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Leeds, UK Posts: 5,878	A remote and a million channels to flick through endlessly and mindlessly....

04-15-2003, 10:56 AM	#3
Rhea Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Recluse Posts: 9,040	infinite channels. No wonder they don't need bodies.

04-15-2003, 01:36 PM	#4
spurly Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Oklahoma City Posts: 710	I don't get it. Television entertainment = our desire not to have free will. That's a unique statement. Kevin

04-15-2003, 03:27 PM	#6
parkdalian Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Nouveau-Brunswick Posts: 507	To me, television is the prime example of free will. 100 channels may give us the illusion of choice but we are forced to watch whatever content they give us.

04-15-2003, 07:49 PM	#7
Rhea Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Recluse Posts: 9,040	It's not so much of a stretch. TV proves that we don't need to be able to control our stimuli to be content. We can watch what's fed us and not even get up off the couch to change the channel. People do it all the time. "There was nothing on so I watched this dumb show". It just occured to me when I thought about how glazed people get watching TV, that we were not exercising any kind of free will with regard to the story line. We just WATCH. People do this for 20+ hours every week. And that's the ones who work full time so that they can pay for their TV. It made a picture in my mind. Quite plausible, how people can be content for eternity and never get in trouble because they have voluntarily relinquished their free will.

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