Say hypothetically that you are an Atheist... you may think you have it kind of hard because you have to deal with not having an afterlife. Well, as this video explains (more succinctly than I ever could) there is something much stickier to deal with: Determinism.
It is discussed here under the heading of "free will", but the dilemma is the same regardless of the name. And as is pointed out (a new consideration for me) - this may be an issue to consider religion or no.
I do hope the StumbleUpon page loads correctly. Let me know if it doesn't. Don't know what StumbleUpon is? Well, download it... and you will truly know what it is like to have no free will. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go hit the Stumble button again.
6 comments:
This is a pretty good movie. This scene and the one with the light switches stand out. I think I shall netflix it and add it to my collection.
Ok determinism is kinda freaking me out. I've been thinking about this and it seems very contratictory to me. I believe in physics and chemistry and biology and that they say for every action there is a specific reaction and so forth. Chemical and physical reactions that happen in the brain in such a way that determine our thoughts and actions. If this is so then we are as we are and could not be otherwise.
At the same time I have the distinct impression of making choices. (Some I follow through with better than others, and so I recognize the influence of outside forces, I decide things non-the-less. How can it be that there is an unalterable chain of events happening, but I still have free will? Is this a false sensation? I could (and do) any number of completely random things, but these things are apparently not random.
Even if determinism is true, it seems like a dangerous idea to let out because it will unbound people from the responsibility of their actions. How could one be found guilty of a crime they had no choice but to commit?
Funny answer: We have no choice but to punish them ;)
Without getting too wound up in this contradiction (the logic of it versus the feeling), I sum it up this - we must rationally accept that we are likely deterministic beings, but we must live as if we weren't.
Additionally, I am considering this approach: we are predestined to some end, so I might as well assume that that end is amazing... if it really doesn't matter what I do one way or the other - then why not assume I was destined for greatness and dream the big dreams?
I shall call this "Frosty's Wager" - if you assume your are predestined for greatness and you are not, then you have lost nothing in the assumption. If you make the assumption an you are - then you have changed nothing. But if you are not pre-destined, then making that assumption is more likely to lead to greatness (actualizing your thoughts).
The twist that tickles me is: if I assume that I am destined for something amazing and there we are deterministic, then I had no choice but to make that assumption. Of course, that assumption would be independent of my actual destiny.
Furthermore, let me address the "feeling of free will". Think about it - haven't you ever felt like a victim of your momentum / past / genetics? Think about drinking - or any of your "bad" habits... haven't you ever felt powerless to make another choice - or resigned to it?
What if you begin working with the assumption that because of your understanding of determinism that you have no choice but to make the right decision in those situations... do you see? When I am thinking about wasting an evening drinking I can realize that it is my unavoidable destiny to not drink but instead work toward some goal - for I have no choice but to end up better.
Frosty's wager - you sir are brilliant, much beyond that silly pascal.
Of course the converse is that I had no choice but to inherit the drinking gene (probably something closer to the hedonism gene)I had no choice but to go to a secluded college where drinking wasn't so much a past time but... the time. I had no choice but to drink the entire bottle.
I am destined for greatness, some day there will be a plague, it will kill many many people, but only those who maintain a .10 bac may survive. I will lead them as I can function ..reasonably.. well at that level. (i thought this would be an awesome novel.)
May I suggest a title?
"And the Drunk Shall Inherit the Earth"
Possibly not just the over-played "plague"... but vampires - vampires that find alcohol lethal.
A little too "I am Legend"?
Dirk Smith last man on earth. By day he hunts and gathers. By night he drinks. And SURVIVES!
I was thinking more in the style of Shawn of the Dead.
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