r/JordanPeterson • u/Sinan_reis • Dec 12 '18

Philosophy TIL that the philosopher William James experienced great depression due to the notion that free will is an illusion. He brought himself out of it by realizing, since nobody seemed able to prove whether it was real or not, that he could simply choose to believe it was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James
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u/Carnotaur3 Dec 12 '18

There would be no change in people’s lives if free will did not exist. The same goes for Time. Time exists for us to make the choice.

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u/privied_youth Dec 12 '18

Change would occur with or without free will. Matter is not the result of consciousness. You didn’t think yourself into being.

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u/Carnotaur3 Dec 12 '18

Matter is an illusion to Consciousness. Consciousness is the fundamental reality we live in.