Why the Will Is Not Free (Part 1 of 2)

To comment on this video, go to: http://beingism.org/community/?q=node/15

Human beings have a powerful sense of free will, and in at least one important sense, people are responsible for their actions. Despite this, the concept of free will as it is commonly understood is a baseless and incoherent concept. More specifically, although it is true that when beings make choices, it feels to them as though a variety of outcomes are possible, in fact only the actual outcome was ever really a possibility. For a different choice to have been made, another set of initial circumstances would have to have been the case.

It is crucial to remember that nonexistence of free will does not negate the existence of choice itself. When confronted with circumstances, beings make decisions based on their preferences, beliefs, feelings, and so forth. Indeed, beings constantly make choices about what to do, and to the extent they are not prevented by external circumstances, they can (and do) act as they wish.

Neither does this position negate the importance of choice. Humans and many other kinds of beings definitely need some measure of choice in order to be happy. Drastically restricted choice appears to result in great suffering, and Beingism is emphatically in favor of allowing beings to make decisions about the things that affect their lives to whatever extent they are able.

If this seems to you like a contradiction, keep reading. It isn't.

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Category:

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Tags:

• atheism
• atheist
• charity
• compassion
• empathy
• ethics
• happiness
• logic
• moral
• philosophy
• rationality
• reason
• religion
• socialism
• anarchism
• capitalism

[tlwdssd]

where is part 2?

[Beingism]

@tlwdssd youtube [dot] com/watch?v=H8J6iRZ9f1E&playne­xt=1&list=PL4B25565483D9503A

[hob976]

I'm trying to understand why I should invest my time into understanding this debate. (No sarcasm) I'd appreciate it if someone would answer these two questions very plainly... like you're explaining it to a 14 year old.

1. What can I predict if I'm on the correct side of this discussion?

2. How will it hinder me if I'm on the wrong side of this debate...?

Thank you for very simple answers...

[Beingism]

@hob976 Great questions! We actually do address them in the videos, but you might find it easier to read about it at beingism [dot] org/community/?q=node/15 . In brief, belief in free will is a major barrier to compassion for others and oneself. It is unlikely that you will have increased predictive capacity as a result of understanding that "free will" as such is an illusion, but you may behave quite a bit more rationally, and more empathetic, once you understand and internalize this.

[guidedmarkets]

@ProfessorDarkly I think you mean *Occam's* razor. :)

[ProfessorDarkly]

Octans razor

[nasaguy]

@ineptsegue Okay. So we THINK the choices we make are free, but in fact they are forced - forced by events/conditions we are unaware of. Is that correct?

[nasaguy]

@ineptsegue I'm still confused. If I command my arm to move right, it moves right. If I had picked left it would have gone left. So my consciousness has control over my body. Isn't that free will? Or are you saying that something MADE me pick right rather than left? If so, what was it?

[nasaguy]

I don't think the author REALLY believes the will is not free. If he did, why would he have made so many videos trying to sway us to his thinking? What difference does it make, if we can't act on it?

[TossThatCoin]

Fair enough, it´s not like you would get a raise or something when you were to join the dark side, haha!

Besides, your video is valid in both cases.

Keep up the good work!