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A new low for the Tories?

PsB said:
Translation error, apparently. He thought he was being asked about "Mai 68".
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....and apparently the interpreter was well aware of the error but thought it too delicious to invite correction. It's a great story, full of unintended irony.
 
Rockmeister said:
we seem to be at cross purposes. I do believe free will exists, as I said, but I simply reject the idea that we use it. Yes, I think we are just blown about by chance.
Sorry if I seemed rude. Not intended...typing is such an awkward way to express these complex ideas.
With no intention to patronise, but just as an interesting challenge, next weeken if you have some free time, try a challenge?
At some point, make a decision to complete some fairly difficult task. Set yourself a start and finish time, so you know when you have done. Something is not too easy and obvious...give yourself a challenge?
Don't allow 'free time' its cheating.. Now set out and just note how many times you were diverted along the way. Did you go from A to B smoothly? Did you get sidetracked?
You should be able to do this, because it's a challenge, because this is a false situation and you want to win. Imagine how many people set out at A without that challenge and get blown to C nstead of B. 'Darling, I forgot the lamb chops but Tesco had a chicken!'
That is a very crude example I know, and grossly over simplifies the situation but.
Bear in mind that there are plenty of people who DO have some degree of control (only about 1 in 1000 that have complete control) and creative people, musicians, writers etc often do well here for whatever reason, but most of us don't.

In perspective, we are governed by instinct yes (do you ignore genetics?) upbringing and education. These things give us our behavioural keys.
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I don't think your challenge would prove anything as far as I'm concerned, the reason being that I'm mildly ADHD, meaning I have what's termed "hyperfocus", so concentrating on something to the exclusion of other things isn't one of my problems. You mention those who DO have control over their will are generally creative types and that's probably true. That said, everyone uses their free will constantly (deciding whether to have toast or cereal is a simplistic example) but the reason they don't use it creatively or consciously is because the vast majority of people don't even know what they want. I've asked people the question often when I've had discussions on this subject and it's amazing how many respond with, "Well, what I don't want is..." They have a negative slant in their outlook and can't answer positively. In order to use your free will creatively you have to know exactly what you want and to have any chance of achieving it you have to want it as much as you want your next breath. Most people don't. That's why they get sidetracked and why they don't get anywhere and end up drifting about. If, as has been amazingly stated here by some, you believe that free will doesn't exist, you're really in a bind because how can you use something you don't believe you have? Life will appear to be a meaningless pantomime in which you are at the mercy of events over which you will have seemingly no control.
Instinct is something we undoubtedly have but we also have higher consciousness which means we have the ability to override it. Men may be genetically programmed to size women up for mating purposes but we are perfectly capable of deciding not to. In this case I would urge that very course of action. To claim that you are at the mercy of your animal instincts is to deny the power of your own conscious mind.
 
My ego has to keep reminding my Id that their car won’t drive itself but to get back to the topic, both are worried the Tories are going to put road tax up massively.
 
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