Has anybody else picked this up yet? It’s really done a number on me. Prior to reading it I would consider myself a Stoic. One of my central philosophies being that “The choices I make define who I am”.
So obviously being told that my choices were never even mine to begin with was kind of a slap in the face.
It rings true though. The choices we make at any given time are a result of our genetics, or environment, the media we’ve consumed, how tired we are…
I’m not a stranger to the concept of Ego death but it had been a hot minute since I thought about it.
I’ve only taken one philosophy course on theory of mind BUT I never really understood the compatibilist position. They say that yes everything is deterministic but mental states determine action.
But mental states are determined too. Unless you are some dualist, you’d have to believe that mental states are determined.