Hard Questions

Why is there change at all? Not merely why do particular things change, nor how change unfolds according to physical laws, but why reality is dynamic rather than still. Why does anything move from one state to another

Across history, different philosophies and religious thoughts have tried to answer these questions.

Creationist accounts suggest that change belongs to a contingent world sustained by a transcendent source.

Darwinian evolution portrays change as the engine of life itself, a continuous process of variation and selection unfolding through time.

Emanationist traditions describe change as a gradual descent from unity into multiplicity, an ontological distancing from a first principle.

Each framework implies a different metaphysical foundation: change as willed, change as fundamental process, or change as necessary overflow.
Does change signal imperfection, creativity, decay, or possibility? And if change is fundamental, what—if anything—remains constant beneath it? This discussion invites us to consider whether becoming is the deepest feature of reality, or whether permanence lies hidden beneath the flux.

Current topic: Do we have Free Will?

What are we free to choose or decide?

Does one need to know what all the options are, or is simply picking between two options sufficient to qualify as free will?

Does knowledge of the consequences of a choice make free will easier, more difficult or impossible? Is a reality check required? (For example, choosing to be an NBA All Star even if you're five feet tall.)

What if free choices changed nothing other than our memory of the choice, does that mean it's not free will?

What if your nervous system automatically takes all actions faster than you mind can perceive? (See Libet experiment) Can you still exercise free will by instructing the nervous system to take a different action in that situation in the future?

What if your subconscious has freedom to choose but your conscious doesn't? Do YOU still have free will?

Some believe that quantum uncertainty enables free will in an otherwise clockwork universe. Some say that the randomness interferes with the ability to choose. Does it?

Can a digitally programmed device such as A.I. have free will? What if it can respond to experience by changing its behavior? At what point does it have free will?

https://www.godcontention.org/christian/do-we-have-free-will

Yes, Free Will Exists - Scientific American Blog Network

Free Will (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

https://www.bbc.com/reel/playlist/free-will

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/09/free-will-bereitschaftspotential/597736/

https://www.charite.de/en/service/press_reports/artikel/detail/the_brain_computer_duel_do_we_have_free_will/

https://www.godcontention.org/christian/do-we-have-free-will

Note: This group is for like-minded people who enjoy discussing the big and the hard questions. We will always be seeking the truth. Our topics will include truth, philosophy, science, morality, and spirituality.

This is not a group for those that already KNOW they have the answers to the hard questions. Rather, this is a group for those that have hard questions, like to ponder possible answers to such questions, and want to see how their answers or philosophies stand up to some hard scrutiny.

We have four core rules:

1. Mutual respect always
2. Allow space for all to participate
3. Stay on topic
4. Always seek the truth no matter where that leads us