Determinism vs. Free Will

“Our choices are influenced by many factors, such as social and cultural factors. Many feel
that free will is an illusion because in most cases we simply can't do what we want,
and in fact in many cases we often do what we don't want, because we know it is the
"right choice". Is that really a choice then? What is interesting is that as the human
genome project becomes more sophisticated, we many find that many of our actions that
we consider free will are really determined by our biology. For example, there are genes
that have been uncovered for risk taking. This may explain why some people take undue
risks, or participate in extreme or dangerous sports, etc. If that is the case, then are those
actions free will or determined?”
“Some argue that determinism does negate the idea of free will because free will implies
that everyone has the right to choose between right and wrong and this is not always the
case. Determinism shows that it is not always so simple and that often times while some
individuals have more than one option to choose from, others do not have as many options
and if they do they may not be as good of options as others may have. Do you think that
if individuals from the same background, were given the same choices if they would
choose the same option and if it would be a good option?”
PROMPT 2 –
Social Disorganization Theory
There have been many studies that have been used to show that that delinquency and crime
tend to be confined to certain areas, and that criminal behavior persists in these areas for
many generations. Furthermore, access to criminal roles depends upon first hand contact
with others from whom the necessary values and skills may be learned. Also, for those who
come from areas where this type of learning is unavailable, it will become more difficult
for those people to gain access to stable criminal careers, even if they were motivated to
do so. For example, if I decided that I wanted to rob a bank, I would have no idea how to
go about doing this. I don't have the skills or the opportunity to engage in this activity.
However, a person whom associates with people who already engage in this activity have
more opportunity. For example, in the TV series “Breaking Bad”, it showed the process of
how a mild mannered school teacher became a hardened criminal meth dealer. His first
step was to reach out to a former student who he knew dealt with drugs. What do you
think of this theory based on opportunity?

Determinism vs. Free Will

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