Word. Thanks for the thoughtful back and forth.. I'd address a couple things real quick.
If everything was reaction of the environment, wouldn't we see uniformity in the people from same environments?
I don't see why that would be the case, reality wouldn't work in any sense if it was everything would blur together, the separation is a critical ingredient.
They will say it is to stop thinking.
Really? Wow.. I get your point, but that just sounds silly.. The brain is meant to think, in my opinion.. Without it, we might as well be blades of grass. Heh.
People would behave same way just like animals do. Animals' behavior is predictable, can you say same for humans?
I think you definitely could make the argument we are more complex animals and we are predictable to an extent as well. Perhaps totally by an alien or god force above us in sentience like we are above animals and plants.
I have heard so called "mathematical logic" arguments. Basically they hold deterministic position. In my opinion, it fails miserably.
Well.. To me, I liken it to that scene in the Matrix the second one with the Marvingian or whatever the name is.. He claims "Everything" is a reaction. And.. Mathematically.. I think that has some weight. I'm not sure you can 100% prove it at all, or else we wouldn't be having this discussion.. But I also don't think that means they fail miserably. They are convincing and interesting concepts to think about..Maybe everything is a reaction, BUT.. that would almost imply there was one initial action, maybe you could call that the big bang or whatever.. Yet.. I think it makes an amount of sense, if you really think about it.. Though as I said.. Not 100%, yet still compelling!