This is another really awesome video. I have a question though. You might have answered it here below. To look at things from a buddhistic perspective, we should all remain extremely present. Be watchers in our own mind and not live in psychological time. I guess as you mentioned this can help for that introspective reality. That when more people realise this, we can be well on our way to making this rollercoaster ride a really awesome one. We should know what we're doing, become conscious!
Well, we are conscious. Lots of animals are conscious. But the irony of the matter is what we call consciousness is really a state of being unconscious of more than what we are conscious of. We are quite oblivious of a lot of the sensory input being received by our sense organs and sent to the brain. We are quite oblivious of most of the processes going on inside the organ we call "our brain." I think the word used by Buddhists is more fitting: AWARENESS. We should strive to increase awareness.
I agree that free willl is an illusion. But what I find a little difficult about the whole notion is, does it really matter? Whether humanity as a whole believes in free will or not, would we really act any different? We would still lock away criminals to protect the rest of the populace even if the criminal himself wasn't strictly the only one to blame for whatever act he comitted.
I'm just curious...Intellectually I can see how it's an illusion, but what does it matter?
Yes knowing the fact that free will is an illusion is awareness necessary to understanding life and how to function. Watch my Dear Robin: An Open Letter video. People need to quit beating their kids as punishment and instead step back and take a look at the big picture. Kids need correction (behavior modification) not punishment (inflict pain for misdeeds). And behavioral science can give us an idea of how children should be corrected. Besides understanding causality makes introspection possible
Great vid Unseen. I find atheists believing in free-will all the time. Kinda hypocritical.
But I think, to be honest, Jesus true message was cause-effect. For example "make the inside like the outside" (Thomas 22) and "Whoever believes that the All itself is deficient is himself completely deficient." (Thomas: 67) and "Hath not the potter power over the clay?" (Romans 9). The potter, God, being cause-effect, the creator of all things. The All, etc...
My mother was from the Pentecostal Religious Tradition. When I was around 30, she married to W.E. Smith, who had been a Jehovah's Witness. Before his death at the age of 77 I had a long talk with "Smitty." Seems some of his Jehovah's Witness's beliefs blended with the dogma preached at the Ochlockonee Christian Center. Smitty didn't believe a loving God would create a Hell for people to suffer eternally. And Smitty believed Satan was guilty of creating circumstances that caused people to error.
lol, well then he was completely deficient for thinking the All itself to be deficient.
I don't believe any sect, even the Reform church fully understands Jesus. Their interpretation is far too pie-in-the-sky, irrational. But atleast they got the Free-Will part correct.
Have you ever heard of the Jefferson Bible? Anyway, a 1999 survey found 746 Reformed denominations. I suspect they don't see eye to eye on Bible interpretations. In fact, over the years I've noticed so much dispute within various churches that another church was formed as a result of the disagreement. Even couples sometimes separate and/or divorce as a result of religious disagreement. My experience has made me become much like George Carlin expressed in his routine titled Religion (casUr9UsabY)
Yes, I too find it sadly ironic that atheists continue to believe the religious Dogma of Free Will even after they loose their belief in a god. Also, in regard to another comment you made: Have you ever heard of the Jesus Seminar? Plus, the teaching of Jesus were written down so long after his death that some of them may have been lost and some of them may have been memes started by other individuals. Also, note how the teachings allow the Jews to adapt/conform to living under Roman subjugation.
free will and will power are fascinating things to think about. I generally think of right wingers as leaning the most towards the idea of free will. Probably the result of a lifetime of different influences. They may feel deep down that they made themselves who they are. There was no luck or outside infuence that made it possible. So that kind of thinking pervades their view of the world. If they could pick themselves up and persevere through adversity, so can that homeless guy on the corner.
Language makes matters even more fascinating. A fault in the earth isn't the earth's fault, but it is. If someone pushed me down and broke my arm, it wouldn't be my fault, but it would be. The broken-arm fault of my body would be possessed by none other than myself, though it wouldn't be my fault, but it would be. We have to remember, human language was a form of communication developed by our ignorant ancestors. Language isn't as precise as math. It is also sometimes loaded with the (GoTo2)
(2) misconceptions and prejudices of our ancestors. Therefore, language itself leads to cognitive misinterpretation and confusion and thus public disagreement. Free will was another term invented by our ignorant ancestors. It is based on an illusion just like the flat earth was. The will is free only in the sense the wind is free; they are both the effect of causal forces. Nevertheless, the human likes to fantasize that he can pick himself up by his own bootstraps
The Major Media in this country promote both the notion of free will and genetic determinism. The two notions contradict one other. But they both support the illusion that individual's are purely at fault when behavior variation occurs. And environmental factors are downplayed, ridiculed, or ignored. Of course, this stratagem effectively maintains the Status Quo. And it also causes conflicting ideas in society. I've noticed leftists usually believe in free will and rightists, genetic-determinism
Nice back ground, just wanted to get that out of the way.
Lots of great thoughts throughout this video. Nicely put too. I agree that the environment that someone grows up in is the biggest influence over the rest of their life.
The background was an "optical illusion" found on the Internet. The guys in unceasing combat is illustrative of the male of the human species. It was an animated gif. The little girl swaying is also illustrative of what humans expect out of little girls: Picture perfect and wide-eyed naivety. The nurse is illustrative of how little girls learn to quit being naive. The nurse is a MS Agent character. The tongue-thingy gif is illustrative of what the average person thinks of others. In (GoTo2))
(2) In other words, the average person thinks nearly everybody is a "weirdo" but himself, which is the opposite of what weird means. That is, if everybody is different than one's self, then the one who is weird is the one who is unlike the majority. Of course, the eye gif is the all-seeing eye of the herd. No matter where you are or what you are doing when you are near a herd of cattle, one is always watching you and passing that information on to the other cattle. Humans are herd animals too.
I find it ironic that a person can easily see that if he (or she) had been nurtured and raised by a group of chimps, then he (or she) would not think and act as he (or she) presently does. But the same person (on average) cannot grasp the concept that certain environmental circumstances have made him (or her) into the person that he (or she) presently is. People suffer from the illusion that they have made themselves into the person they are today, and environmental circumstances were (GoTo2b))
(2b) irrelevant to the issue. The human can believe two things that contradict one another.
When a person is fat, some genetic-environment interaction resulted in the person being fat. When a person runs down to the gym and works out trying not to be fat, peer pressure, advertising, or another environmental circumstance has resulted in that person's antifat thoughts and behavior. Individuals differ primarily because their personal experiences and other environmental circumstances differed.
I wonder what you would think about my "Morality Debunked" video. There are a lot of parallel themes.
AntiCitizenX 2 years ago
I subscribed to your channel. Need I say more?
unseenstrings 2 years ago
This is another really awesome video. I have a question though. You might have answered it here below. To look at things from a buddhistic perspective, we should all remain extremely present. Be watchers in our own mind and not live in psychological time. I guess as you mentioned this can help for that introspective reality. That when more people realise this, we can be well on our way to making this rollercoaster ride a really awesome one. We should know what we're doing, become conscious!
exDeathex 3 years ago
Well, we are conscious. Lots of animals are conscious. But the irony of the matter is what we call consciousness is really a state of being unconscious of more than what we are conscious of. We are quite oblivious of a lot of the sensory input being received by our sense organs and sent to the brain. We are quite oblivious of most of the processes going on inside the organ we call "our brain." I think the word used by Buddhists is more fitting: AWARENESS. We should strive to increase awareness.
unseenstrings 3 years ago
I agree that free willl is an illusion. But what I find a little difficult about the whole notion is, does it really matter? Whether humanity as a whole believes in free will or not, would we really act any different? We would still lock away criminals to protect the rest of the populace even if the criminal himself wasn't strictly the only one to blame for whatever act he comitted.
I'm just curious...Intellectually I can see how it's an illusion, but what does it matter?
forger42 3 years ago
Yes knowing the fact that free will is an illusion is awareness necessary to understanding life and how to function. Watch my Dear Robin: An Open Letter video. People need to quit beating their kids as punishment and instead step back and take a look at the big picture. Kids need correction (behavior modification) not punishment (inflict pain for misdeeds). And behavioral science can give us an idea of how children should be corrected. Besides understanding causality makes introspection possible
unseenstrings 3 years ago
Great vid Unseen. I find atheists believing in free-will all the time. Kinda hypocritical.
But I think, to be honest, Jesus true message was cause-effect. For example "make the inside like the outside" (Thomas 22) and "Whoever believes that the All itself is deficient is himself completely deficient." (Thomas: 67) and "Hath not the potter power over the clay?" (Romans 9). The potter, God, being cause-effect, the creator of all things. The All, etc...
Rybot9000 3 years ago
My mother was from the Pentecostal Religious Tradition. When I was around 30, she married to W.E. Smith, who had been a Jehovah's Witness. Before his death at the age of 77 I had a long talk with "Smitty." Seems some of his Jehovah's Witness's beliefs blended with the dogma preached at the Ochlockonee Christian Center. Smitty didn't believe a loving God would create a Hell for people to suffer eternally. And Smitty believed Satan was guilty of creating circumstances that caused people to error.
unseenstrings 3 years ago
lol, well then he was completely deficient for thinking the All itself to be deficient.
I don't believe any sect, even the Reform church fully understands Jesus. Their interpretation is far too pie-in-the-sky, irrational. But atleast they got the Free-Will part correct.
Rybot9000 3 years ago
Have you ever heard of the Jefferson Bible? Anyway, a 1999 survey found 746 Reformed denominations. I suspect they don't see eye to eye on Bible interpretations. In fact, over the years I've noticed so much dispute within various churches that another church was formed as a result of the disagreement. Even couples sometimes separate and/or divorce as a result of religious disagreement. My experience has made me become much like George Carlin expressed in his routine titled Religion (casUr9UsabY)
unseenstrings 3 years ago
Yes, I too find it sadly ironic that atheists continue to believe the religious Dogma of Free Will even after they loose their belief in a god. Also, in regard to another comment you made: Have you ever heard of the Jesus Seminar? Plus, the teaching of Jesus were written down so long after his death that some of them may have been lost and some of them may have been memes started by other individuals. Also, note how the teachings allow the Jews to adapt/conform to living under Roman subjugation.
unseenstrings 3 years ago
free will and will power are fascinating things to think about. I generally think of right wingers as leaning the most towards the idea of free will. Probably the result of a lifetime of different influences. They may feel deep down that they made themselves who they are. There was no luck or outside infuence that made it possible. So that kind of thinking pervades their view of the world. If they could pick themselves up and persevere through adversity, so can that homeless guy on the corner.
jas111000 3 years ago
Language makes matters even more fascinating. A fault in the earth isn't the earth's fault, but it is. If someone pushed me down and broke my arm, it wouldn't be my fault, but it would be. The broken-arm fault of my body would be possessed by none other than myself, though it wouldn't be my fault, but it would be. We have to remember, human language was a form of communication developed by our ignorant ancestors. Language isn't as precise as math. It is also sometimes loaded with the (GoTo2)
unseenstrings 3 years ago
(2) misconceptions and prejudices of our ancestors. Therefore, language itself leads to cognitive misinterpretation and confusion and thus public disagreement. Free will was another term invented by our ignorant ancestors. It is based on an illusion just like the flat earth was. The will is free only in the sense the wind is free; they are both the effect of causal forces. Nevertheless, the human likes to fantasize that he can pick himself up by his own bootstraps
NaturalismOrg
FamilyLoveZoneCom
unseenstrings 3 years ago
The Major Media in this country promote both the notion of free will and genetic determinism. The two notions contradict one other. But they both support the illusion that individual's are purely at fault when behavior variation occurs. And environmental factors are downplayed, ridiculed, or ignored. Of course, this stratagem effectively maintains the Status Quo. And it also causes conflicting ideas in society. I've noticed leftists usually believe in free will and rightists, genetic-determinism
unseenstrings 3 years ago
Nice back ground, just wanted to get that out of the way.
Lots of great thoughts throughout this video. Nicely put too. I agree that the environment that someone grows up in is the biggest influence over the rest of their life.
jebus6kryst 3 years ago
The background was an "optical illusion" found on the Internet. The guys in unceasing combat is illustrative of the male of the human species. It was an animated gif. The little girl swaying is also illustrative of what humans expect out of little girls: Picture perfect and wide-eyed naivety. The nurse is illustrative of how little girls learn to quit being naive. The nurse is a MS Agent character. The tongue-thingy gif is illustrative of what the average person thinks of others. In (GoTo2))
unseenstrings 3 years ago
(2) In other words, the average person thinks nearly everybody is a "weirdo" but himself, which is the opposite of what weird means. That is, if everybody is different than one's self, then the one who is weird is the one who is unlike the majority. Of course, the eye gif is the all-seeing eye of the herd. No matter where you are or what you are doing when you are near a herd of cattle, one is always watching you and passing that information on to the other cattle. Humans are herd animals too.
unseenstrings 3 years ago
I find it ironic that a person can easily see that if he (or she) had been nurtured and raised by a group of chimps, then he (or she) would not think and act as he (or she) presently does. But the same person (on average) cannot grasp the concept that certain environmental circumstances have made him (or her) into the person that he (or she) presently is. People suffer from the illusion that they have made themselves into the person they are today, and environmental circumstances were (GoTo2b))
unseenstrings 3 years ago
(2b) irrelevant to the issue. The human can believe two things that contradict one another.
When a person is fat, some genetic-environment interaction resulted in the person being fat. When a person runs down to the gym and works out trying not to be fat, peer pressure, advertising, or another environmental circumstance has resulted in that person's antifat thoughts and behavior. Individuals differ primarily because their personal experiences and other environmental circumstances differed.
unseenstrings 3 years ago