Generic Intro Thread
 

I have a very real dislike of intro threads lol. They feel so awkward.

But, I guess it's part joining an online deal so I guess I will get it over with.

My name is Anthony. I, of course, like music. Prob a startling amount lol. I play a few different instruments. I primarily play guitar, but can play a little bass, piano, and drums.

I like writing music: composing and lyrical writing.

As for genres, I have a fairly broad taste and can find something I like in most genres. Right now I'm feeling some Zeppelin and Fit For Rivals/Renee Phoenix. I discovered them recently and digging the music. Especially her solo song" Godless".


Non music related, I like video games, cars, computers, and having philosophical arguments lol.


But anyway, that's me.

You've come to the right place: musicbanter is a hellmouth of philosophical arguments disguised as a music forum. What are your thoughts on the existence of free will?

It doesn't exist. At least what most would consider to be true free will doesn't exist.

Every choice we make is mostly predetermined by the outcomes of previous events and societal pressures. Essentially, for any given decision, the odds are stacked in favor of one or more particular options. The extent of that stacked odd, or which choice is stacked at all, is different between people, and is different even for the same person at two different points in time.

But because it's a numbers game, everyone has the potential to break the mold. But only because after so much time has passed, there will be an anomaly show itself as long as there is any chance, no matter how small.

But because the "formula" is so immensely complex to figure out the actual chance for each individual choice, there is an illusion of free will. But it's honestly just a matter of probabilities.


And after typing all that, I'm wondering if you even expected a response lol

So, what do you think of Nietzsche then?

From my understanding, my personal beliefs and his philosophies aren't terribly different. But to be fair, I have to say I'm definitely not an expert on the man.

I would think my biggest point of contention would be his views on nihilism. From my understanding, he tends to paint a destructive picture of it. I, personally, believe it is an inevitable part of our growth. It is the dismantlement of what makes humanity unbalanced within itself and complacent with itself.

Again, that statement is from an admittedly limited look at his work and I would love to hear others thoughts on it.

No Nietzsche specialist either (for that you need to read German, for starters), but I would caution against the assumption that he had anything like a coherent theory of "nihilism". Most of the appearances of the word in his corpus are in the posthumously published The Will to Power, which was compiled by his Nazi sister and is in general not very reliable. It does appear in The Gay Science and The Genealogy of Morals but it's far from clear that it means the same thing in all those instances. I would say that it can mean both the "culmination of the long process of exhaustion of our vital forces through embrace of Socraticism and Christianity" and also "the liberation from aforementioned decadent exhaustion through the realization that God is dead".

If you understand French, this is the best short exposition of the topic I know of: