Roy Baumeister - What is Intentionality?

'Intentionality' is a philosophical term that describes the elements of mental states that are 'directed' at things or ideas—the fact that thinking, feeling, hoping, believing, desiring are 'about' things. How can physical brain processes—electric currents and chemical concentrations—be 'about' things? Intentionality, some claim, is a problem for physicalists.



Roy F. Baumeister is Francis Eppes Professor of Psychology at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. He is a social psychologist who is known for his work on the self, social rejection, sexuality, self-control, self-esteem, self-defeating behaviors, consciousness, and free will.


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[amityaffliction]

I thought the questions were well stated. I particularly enjoyed this interview, well done

[md.fazlulkarim]

That's it. Very right explanation of free will.

[cagdasozgun]

One of the most interesting topics. It also debated for the arts, especially as I know it for photography.

[williamburts]

So intentionality and free will are intertwined

[stefanb]

Freedom is nothing more than the combination of being able to anticipate punishments and rewards and the ability to modify behavior to optimize the sum total of anticipated rewards. Change my mind.

[patrickfitzgerald]

Well done. I'm glad he mentioned the constraints of state-sanctioned punishment/violence on free will. It's the core issue that Black Americans face in a country with a racist-infused law enforcement bureaucracy that too often is not constrained by the rule of law.

[abhisheknarvaria]

rule of binding leads to intentionality. a goal with specific value
of parameters.

[TheTroofSayer]

Agency nicely explained. Every agent has a body, and it is the body that determines what choices an agent is predisposed to making from its ecosystem... and choices wire the neuroplastic brain. The human ecosystem is culture. Humans with hands and vocal chords are predisposed to the creation and sharing of language. And it is language and cultural history that shapes our identities. None of this is "determined" in the genes. Top-down is *constrained* (predisposed) by bottom-up, but it is not determined by it.

[jamesruscheinski]

Since the future is about time, can the human brain use time in the direction of energy for doing things?

[jazzfish]

More and more were becoming isolated like if were the middle of nowhere when we’re not

[mikedziuba]

I agree that free will is choosing a future that isn't yet determined and hasn't yet happened. The future is not deterministic. It's possibilistic. Understanding the future and choosing a future among many possible futures is what the exercise of free will is.

Classical Mechanics doesn't have any future. It only has the past and the present. But the human brain is able to predict and understand many possible futures. So, the human brain transcends its Classical Mechanics limitations and is able to do things beyond that. That's why people have free will.

[BugRib]

He's using words like "intentionality", "free will, " "agency, " and "consciousness" in only their soft form. You can't explain away intentionality as just a mechanical process, or consciousness as just information processing & behavior, or free will as just having more options for the meat computer to select from. In their true forms, they're some of the deepest and most intractable mysteries in science and philosophy.

[TheTroofSayer]

Plants have agency. But they rely on too diffuse an energy source (solar) to be able to get up and move around. Moving about like animals do is energy-intensive. Confined to soils, plants have a vastly reduced horizon of options, compared to animals, hence the illusion that plants are without agency.

[stephenlawrence]

And yet we know free will= free choice and is about being free to select options we don't select. So the idea is the wrongdoer could have done the right thing.
Not what he said at all.

[mediocrates]

Moving to eat came after moving to find a comfy place..., to eat. Interestingly; the first thing to eat once you find a comfy place is your brain (Rodolfo Llinãs).😂😂😂

[StevenPetermann]

Same compatibilist nonsense. That's not what most people think about free will. They think they could have done otherwise.

[psuedonym]

even animals have a REASON for doing something. thats intentional. or else I'd die. to say intentionality doesn't exist because of a high consciousness is obvious overruled by a lower one. do we let that happen. intentionally?? or r we the animals? or demons trying agaon

[marklewis]

plants seem to have intention, ..old, refined intention.

[cvsree]

How is this different from freewill?
This channel has lost intentionality, going in circles

[Jesus_is_Lord-]

"babies do not have freewill" sounds like a pro abortion nonsense from this guy lol