Thanks for the link.
Conversation
As far as my current view, I actually see most things that people consider to be "free will" as genetically programmed or conditioned responses (striving for success, mate selection, etc).
I'm more interested in emergence.
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In your experience, what happens when people take the notion of free will as pivotal in their world view?
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A simple summary (b/c time):
- praise: they attribute their successes to their own efforts, and undervalue context dependant variables.
- blame: they attribute others' failures to their lack of effort, motivation, etc; and undervalue why those failures occurred in context.
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what this looks like in practice is that the causes & conditions which shape the 'emergent' outcome of any set of responses become hidden; because of fake attribution.
IME, people who take free-will as a key belief cease to look for leverage points where they can optimise.
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Eg: I know a CEO of a recruitment firm. He was very good at what he used to do, but now he’s at the top he complains about his young employees not taking initiative; instead of looking for things he can change, he complains about them not trying hard enough.
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When I pushed back on this and asked him questions, I was amazed by just how entrenched in his view he was.
He was unwilling to consider ways of coaxing his employees in his desired direction, because according his worldview they were just choosing to not put in the effort.
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It’s kind of an extreme, limited example, but versions of this seem to happen with surprising frequency.
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Speaking from personal experience working at a firm like that, you can have all those beliefs and retain some modicum of self-awareness.
You just slingshot "didn't want to put the work in" up a level to include your own outcomes w/employees... which is the logical thing to do.
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They were all hyperindividualistic, internal locus of control, "you put the work in == you get results" types.
But in that belief system, who didn't put the work in if their team fails? And if their team leaders fail? Etc.
It sounds more like your guy is excusing himself by *not* fully committing to his belief system.
The main issue with that system is it optimizes for callousness, even towards yourself. Workaholicism, substance abuse, sexual abuse...
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