From: Rob Harris (rob@hbinternet.co.uk)
Date: Mon Nov 29 1999 - 02:51:52 MST
>I'll use the example of the celibate priest or monk. Certainly the
>"designer", put in the goal to procreate. However with enough
>training or desire, we can usurp that goal and replace it with
>another, *perhaps* flying in the face of "rational" behavior
>(i.e. substituting the pursuit of a belief system that has no
>concrete visible results with one that has concrete visible results)
We are not purely rational creatures, and concrete visible results are not
important - it is whether these concrete visible results kick off a
pleasurable reaction in our minds. Replacing a cushy sex, drugs and
rock&roll lifestyle with one of constant self-flagellation is just an
example of one desire/motivation outweighing another. The monks will have a
sufficiently strong desire to prove their faith to their gods such that it
will outweigh the desire to have loads of sex etc. This faith proving desire
could be a fundamental motivation in itself - after all, cats leave
"offerings" to their human "gods" too, but I suspect that it has bases in
other things like fear of death, and self-glorification. My point, though,
is that these desires/motivations were not created by the conscious entity
with "free will" or something. There was no time in my life at which I
DECIDED my sexuality, or DECIDED my food preferences, or my particular
loves&hates in any area. I discovered them. All base rules, and therefore
motivations are out of our control. The only "freedom" our "intelligence"
gets is to come up with the plans that fulfil this predetermined motivation
set. I could go further and mention that we don't control our intelligence
either - in fact, that the consciousness is not a control device at all, but
that's another subject.
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