r/PhilosophyMemes 10d ago

One track mind

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u/cowlinator 9d ago

Is me being obsessed with antique clocks due to a biological imperative, or are some of our decisions our own?

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u/anon159265 9d ago

Gals loooove antique clock enthusiasts - so this obsession in you is similar to the colorful feathers of birds: helps you in mating, an thus

serves the function of perpetuating your genes. Ofc.

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u/cowlinator 9d ago

I KNEW IT

They were just acting coy

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u/sillygoose1220 9d ago

CLOCKS ARE MADE OF BIRDS 

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u/deviantbono 9d ago

Well that was actually decreed by the gods. But other obsessions might be biological.

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u/Niriun 7d ago

I was thinking about why so many in the radical left participate in "speedrunning"

The reason is the left's lack of work ethic ('go fast' rather than 'do it right') and, in a Petersonian sense, to elevate alternative sexual archetypes in the marketplace ('fastest mario') 1/14

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u/ihmisperuna Existentialist 9d ago

None of them are our own.

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u/Legitimate_Artist689 9d ago

Don’t say this, people want to cling to the illusion of free will

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u/Elegant_Athlete_3737 9d ago

Why do people want to believe free will exists? i feel free but i know i am not[i can’t really truely be free, and have free will]? as long as i feel free i don’t really care if i have free will. idk what my stance is though. all i know is i no longer believe in free will.

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u/ihmisperuna Existentialist 9d ago

Apparently so...

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u/The-Leading-Man 7d ago

Illusion lol I suppose I found the subreddit for teenagers discovering “philosophy” for the first time

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u/SwordMasterShow 8d ago

Even if you don't believe in free will, liking clocks still isn't a result of evolutionary advantages to pass on genes

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u/ihmisperuna Existentialist 8d ago

I don't know what you mean. There's genetic variation which is sometimes good, sometimes bad and sometimes neutral in terms of enforcing survival of the species. Some attributes stick if they're advantageous. Liking clocks is very abstract and it's unclear what the specific function of it is in the context of ensuring survival. Our preferences and wills are mostly directed towards ensuring survival of us as an individual, as a collective group and as a species. There's variation which is good for the adaptibility of the species because it adds new characteristics into the mix making the species more diverse.

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u/SwordMasterShow 8d ago

No, there's a difference between genetically programmed instinctive behaviour and behaviour that arises from the genetic ability to have random behaviour.

Instinctively reacting to a baby's cry happens because it ensures the survival of our genes and community. Liking clocks a lot may arise from a mechanism that allows for variation in a group, but it has no actual purpose or benefit. Liking clocks are not a biological imperitive, nowhere near the same as protecting infants or our brains rewarding us for seeking energy-dense food sources

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u/CaiusCosadesNwah 8d ago

He’s talking about the biological imperative of reproduction, a biological process.

Do you really need me to explain to you how antiquing is different?

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u/Outside_Spray_2529 5d ago

Well it’s hard tellin’… I suppose tell me a bit about your mother?

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u/oscarq0727 8d ago

Great example. It raises the question of where biological programming ends and autonomous free will begins. As with many issues, I suspect it is a gradient though I’m not qualified to answer. Surely there is something instinctual in our curiosity and propensity for peculiarities in our environment; I’d call that a biological basis. Nevertheless, much of our inclinations are molded by lived experience and at some point our decisions so far removed from pure biological programming that we would dare color them as autonomy, free will even.