Activity 6.3

Much Virtue in If

Though this chapter was difficult for me to grasp, I found some of the quotes in it to be some of the most eloquent in the book and one of the quotes I was most drawn to was this one:

"If free will were true, it would be absurd to have the belief in it fatally forced on our acceptance. Considering the inner fitness of things, one would rather think that the very first act of a will endowed with freedom should be to sustain the belief in the freedom itself. I accordingly believe freely in my freedom" (James, 1983, p. 93).

I have to admit my favorite line in this passage is "I accordingly believe freely in my freedom" (James, 1983, p. 93). I liked it so well I immediately read it to my husband who was slightly less interested than I. This quote speaks to my own struggle with determining the nature of free will. Do I only choose to believe in free will for a sense of security and control or is the fact that I believe in free will proof enough that free will exists? Is it habit to believe in having control over one's actions?

"The aim of the teacher should then be to make him simply forget. Drop the subject for the time, divert the mind to something else: then leading the pupil back by some circuitous line of association, spring it on him again before he has time to recognize it, and as likely as not he will go over it now without any difficulty" (James, 1983, p. 89). This quote brings to mind one of my favorite concepts learned in an Applied Behavior Analysis course I took last summer. One strategy we learned in this course is called High-p, or high probability requests. In this strategy if you are particularly struggling with getting a to complete a more difficult task it is recommended that you first ask the student to do tasks he or she has a high probability of being able to accomplish. Then, after asking the student to complete these easier tasks you next ask him or her to complete the more difficult task he or she was unwilling to complete before. Frequently, because of the prior success the student is more likely to attempt the more difficult task.

Finally, in James' response to what a moral act consists of his answer resonated with me and reminded me of both his past discussions as well as what we are currently learning:

"You can say that it consists in the effort of attention by which we hold fast to an idea which but for that effort of attention would be driven out of the mind by other psychological tendencies that are there. To think, in short, is the secret of will, just as it is the secret of memory" (James, 1983, p. 91).

According to James thinking is both key to memory as well as to free will. I believe thinking also ties into problem solving, learning, and Piaget's disequilibrium. Therefore, for me this quote not only ties into free will but also to a great deal of the content we've been learning about.

I found myself struggling with this post and hoped leaving it to the end would allow incubation to kick it. I sure hope it did!