Are we free?

I was thinking about something we talked about in class regarding free will.  The thought experiment had to do with a chip put into someone's brain that made sure they never smoked. But if this person just choose on their own not to smoke, was it really their choice? 

I find this interesting. They chose not to smoke but was it really a choice if there was no alternative? 

I don't believe that this person has free will. In order to be free, one has to have the ability to choose between different alternatives.  Even if this individual chose not to smoke, they couldn't have chosen to smoke. Their decision was pre-determined and even though they agreed with it, it doesn't make their decision free. 

Minds

We discussed in our thought experiments on Wednesday whether or not certain things have minds or not, such as a dog or a tree. At first I thought that only animals and people could really have minds. But then I started to think about specifics and now the lines are blurred. Can we really say that a worm has a mind? What does it really do with it? But how can we say that a tree doesn't have a mind, if it does things like react to weather conditions? How can we say that any mind is not complex, such as that worm, if we are not actually worms? Maybe worms think exactly like humans but their brains don't work the same way therefore the studies scientists have done in observing it are pointless. I believe that everything has a mind in some way or another because not every creature can just be instinctual.

Alternate Reality

My third attempt at a blog. I wrote down my username this time so hopefully I will be able to access this more than once!

The other day in class we discussed how we could be controlled by an outer force and maybe we are just robots with interests. This got me thinking about lots of other supernatural possibilities that i had never really considered before.

What if there was an alternate universe? One where everyone exists but in opposite form? Where our personality traits are completely different then what they are now? Those who are shy are outgoing. Those who are nice, are mean. What if in this universe, every single decision we make here on Earth was the opposite? Like big decisions, such as who you marry or where you go to college. Or even just the little things, like what to have for lunch or whether or not to make your bed in the morning. And furthermore, how would you know which universe you are in now? Are we in the one that does the opposite or the one that affects the opposite?

I would love to hear if anyone in this class believes in this type of universe or one that is somewhat like it