I don't believe in free will

Causality has always been a fascinating subject to me. A fun thought exercise I like to do is trace back events that needed to happen for things in my life to exist as they do now, and see what's the most obscure thing that was vital to that series. That and the understanding of the probability of any given individual's existence has made me appreciate how intricate every single life is. We're all products of a specific series of events, consisting of a near incalculable number of nuances and distinctions that we might never hope to fully understand and appreciate.

I learned in recent years the concept of Laplace's Demon. A hypothetical being capable of observing every particle of the universe and its current momentum, if I recall it right. That such a being, with a sufficient intellect, could accurately predict the future if it could calculate where every particle has come from and in what it's present momentum is.

Thinking about these things has given me the opinion that chaos is just our inability to fully calculate the momentum of all of the contents of the universe. That every single thing that happens, could not have possibly happened any other way, because the series of events that lead to every moment were put in motion from the instant the universe was created.

I'm not an individual. I don't have free will. I don't make choices. Everything I do, I was always going to do exactly as it pans out. And any element of it that goes unpredictably is simply my lack of awareness of all the elements contributing to whatever comes out of it. But that even then, those elements were always guaranteed to come into play at that moment.

It might sound like I'm trying to absolve myself of responsibility for my decisions. But if I'm right, then I was always going to come to these conclusions, so who's to say what's right and wrong?

But in all things I try to keep an open mind. What do you all think?

Parents
  • Interesting take. You might want to read some of Sartre's work, such as The Roads to Freedom trilogy. His existential philosophy is about finding freedom in a meaningless world.

    Libertarians (who are glorified right-wingers) make the argument for free will. It's the whole thrust of their stance, which is put in place to delude themselves from acknowledging the catastrophic failures of capitalism. In America there are over 60% of people living from paycheck to paycheck and libertarians are there boasting about "free will" as it's convenient for their avarice.

    Organised religion has a big part in many of these flights of fancy.

  • When Leftists enjoying the best standard of living (If not quality of life) in recorded human history, describe the "catastrophic failures of capitalism", and completely miss how communism (their end goal) has created some of the most viciously poor and murdererous societies ever seen.

    Even when we gloss over the fact that a NAZI is a NATIONAL SOCIALIST there is still Stalin and Pol Pot and other shining beacons of socialist leadership & sucess to cause plenty of cognitive dissonance with the left/right paradigm.

    If you want to know who really rules you, ask who it is that you are not allowed to critise in any way.

    It sure isn't any of the clowns that you "vote" into power, those are just carefully compromised puppets who do exactly as they are told by the people who selected and groomed them for their positions.

    The left / right paradigm is clearly an illusion, if you watch it long enough as a dispassionate observer.

    It bears repeating, both sides work for the same masters.

    FFS, WAKE UP!!! 

  • The left / right paradigm is clearly an illusion, if you watch it long enough as a dispassionate observer.

    It bears repeating, both sides work for the same masters.

    Who are the masters?

    It sure isn't any of the clowns that you "vote" into power, those are just carefully compromised puppets who do exactly as they are told by the people who selected and groomed them for their positions.

    Who are these people?

    FFS, WAKE UP!!!

    I promise to wake up if you explain yourself and stop talking in riddles.

Reply
  • The left / right paradigm is clearly an illusion, if you watch it long enough as a dispassionate observer.

    It bears repeating, both sides work for the same masters.

    Who are the masters?

    It sure isn't any of the clowns that you "vote" into power, those are just carefully compromised puppets who do exactly as they are told by the people who selected and groomed them for their positions.

    Who are these people?

    FFS, WAKE UP!!!

    I promise to wake up if you explain yourself and stop talking in riddles.

Children
  • Why the gnomic hints? Unless you are espousing a conspiracy theory that deep down you think is nonsense, or feel you might be ridiculed over. It is also possible that you fear that 'they' might get you.

  • I have provided you with an argument but I am not required to provide you with the education required to assess it. 

    Thinking

    You have actually provided me with nothing. 

    I've had well over a half century of watching left/right politics and as some wit said elsewhere "If voting made any difference, they would not allow us to do it". 

    Me too and no!

    Just no to this nonsense. 

  • I have provided you with an argument but I am not required to provide you with the education required to assess it. 

    The information, backed up by copious evidence is there for you to discover, if you choose to invest the work.

    Allow yourself at least five years (I needed 20, but I'm dim and slow and sometimes over methodical) to sort the wheat of truth from the chaff of "fake news".

    Everybody who does this, seems to come to the same outrageous conclusions, which is what gives me the "heebie jeebies". 

    To quote the late Gonzalo Lira, "understand what's going on".

    Who are these people?
    Who are the masters?

    Excellent questions! You'll be so surprised if you go and find out the answer for yourself. Then you'll also know why no one in their right mind (or even semi right, occasionally, like myself) who knows would answer that question. 

    Shouting "Wake Up!!" was rude and impatient of me, and I should not do that, but I've had well over a half century of watching left/right politics and as some wit said elsewhere "If voting made any difference, they would not allow us to do it".