A Refutation of Determinism

[hmkpoker]

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nothing matters because everything is what it will be, and that's it.

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Let's think of it this way:

Let's say I develop a robot that looks and behaves remarkably like a human being. I program this robot to become successful. The robot has the intelligence and motivation to pursue a path of success. It goes to school, invests wisely, works hard, and eventually becomes very successful.

As I see it, humans are much the same way, except that our "programming" is a little more abstract. Some people have developed different motivations than others, as a result of experience/environment. Some people have been conditioned with defeatist attitudes, and believe that their efforts are worthless, so as a result they don't try. Some people have been conditioned with more aggressive approaches to life, so they believe they have to work hard to get what they want, and as a result, they do.