[MD] experience

[craigerb at comcast.net]

[Case] 
> So if it is OK to say that magnets behave the way they do because they 
> "prefer" to do so, is that equivalent to saying that humans behave as they 
> do because their behavior is determined? 

A better equivalency would be to say that humans behave as they do because they "prefer" to do so.
If you nudge a rock off a tabletop, it will always fall to the floor.  Saying it is always forced to fall or it always prefers to fall, records the same data.
Typically, if you give a person a bowl of live worms, he will not eat them (reality TV aside).  Nor will he if you punch him in the arm. But if you increase the torture, at some point he will.  At that point you can say either that you forced him to eat or that he preferred to eat rather than be further tortured.  Whether that point is predetermined is another matter.
Craig