16) There's no free will
I would never have been able to convince myself philosophically that there was "no free will". It required deconstructing the "I", the core of the belief, to directly experience it. It was then obvious as there was no one to have free will, nor had there ever been.
A major flaw in the philosophy is the lack of focus on this "I", which neuroscience has shown does not exist as a single, stable entity.
I would never have been able to convince myself philosophically that there was "no free will". It required deconstructing the "I", the core of the belief, to directly experience it. It was then obvious as there was no one to have free will, nor had there ever been.
A major flaw in the philosophy is the lack of focus on this "I", which neuroscience has shown does not exist as a single, stable entity.
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Ramana Maharshi, had been questioned: "Are only the important things in a man's life, such as his main occupation or profession, predetermined, or are trifling acts also, such as taking a cup of water, or moving from one part of the room to another? To which Ramana replied: "Everything is predetermined". |
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Albert Einstein, had made a surprisingly similar statement: "Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for insects as well as for the stars. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance, by an invisible piper." Einstein also went on to say, which helps to deal with our pervasive sense of "free will" that: "You can will what you want, but you can't will what you will". |
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The seminal experiments of Benjamin Libet (the first recipient of the Virtual Nobel Prize in Psychology ) at UCSF in 1983 which has been widely argued, reproduced, updated with much better equipment and technology, etc. The main thrust of this work is that the brain's motor cortex initiates our actions, even simple ones, about 350 milliseconds before our "I" is even told about it, which is about 200 milliseconds before it occurs, i.e our actions are not in "our" conscious control but are initiated by the brain, ego "free will" is an illusion.
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As most of you know, none of this is under your "control" as to whether you do, or don't do this work, as it is all predetermined, and everything and everyone is the Field of Universal Consciousness/"Her". This work is all about letting-go into that full understanding and recognizing that She does it all.
Sources:
Q&A
Q1) Does there need to be a free will / determinism dichotomy in philosophy? Just as free will has been proven inconsistent with science, so has determinism. The double slit experiment shows that the present state of a quantum particle may lead to a spectrum of future states, each with a particular likelihood of occurring. Bringing this to the macroscopic level, perfect knowledge of a person's neuroanatomy would not allow determination of their actions perfectly. In the context of nonduality, this understanding seems to provide another level of freedom, surrender, mystery, spontaneity, etc.
A1) The uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics can't be impacted by your "free will", unless you are personally choosing how to collapse all of those wave functions in your body as you choose. There are approximately 7 X 10 to the 27th power or 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms in a 150 lb human body.
As quantum mechanics only works for sub-atomic particles, the actual number of quantum events in your body is much, much higher than this. You have no ability to be aware of, nor simultaneously arrange over 7 billion, billion, billion events.
Knowing perfectly all of the neuroanatomy and neurochemistry in your own body, so that "you" could exercise "free will" on that is similarly daunting. There are approximately 100 billion neurons and about 50 trillion or so synaptic connections in your body so it would be similarly impossible.
The point of Cave's comment is that if all of that could be known, as it does totally dictate your responses, your behavior could be predicted perfectly. To have personal "free will", you would have to be able to control, manipulate and manage all of that, which you couldn't do.
Also, in order to know and choose between two possibilities with any meaning, you would have to know what their ultimate outcomes would be, as those choices worked their way through space time interacting with countless others, which is similarly unknowable.
As "you" can't know, or control your neurochemistry, neuroanatomy, quantum collapses, future outcomes of decisions, etc., it is all determined without your participation or input. That is what "Determinism" means.
Q2) It's become clear to me that the neuroscience clearly demonstrating there's no free will shatters the paradigm of a "me", which essentially is why it is so disconcerting to many. The science thrusts us, willingly or not, into the reality that there is just nature in action, no "me". I am moved and determined by the forces of nature just as much as the hornet, the deer or the tree.
I love Sam Harris' example of Katrina vs 911, how nature could resolve its problems so much more effectively under this new paradigm.
A2) Yes, as the "I/me/my" is the core of "free will", its unveiling as just a phantom created by a piece of software which needs updating, is a major shift in one's fundamental understanding. In a discussion on FB yesterday, this arose from "nowhere":
"There is an "I" program running, along with a lot of other programs, and the "I" program believes it is in control of the other programs and can tell them what to do. However, it turns out that the System Administrator just put that "I'm in charge" code in the "I" program so it stayed interested in what was happening, not to give it control. The other programs continue to do what they have always been doing and run paying little/no attention to the "I" program as its output has a very low signal/noise ratio, it is always after the fact, and nothing it says ever comes out the way it says it will."
You also touch on a very important aspect of "no free will" which Sam Harris did a nice job on, that we will treat others better when we understand that they don't have any free will either.
Q3) Gary, I am really confused about the free will. You are saying "It feels like a "tipping point”. Without fundamental changes etc etc." Yet at the same time you've been saying that everything is predetermined, all is well and "she" is orchestrating everything better than any human. So what is causing all the distractions then? Aren't we all guided by the consciousness one way or another, awaken or asleep?
A3) Yes, you are correct, everything is predetermined. There are two quotes that are very helpful as to what "everything" means. The first is from Albert Einstein:
"Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper."
The second is from Ramana Maharshi:
Questioner: "Are only the important things in a man's life, such as his main occupation or profession, predetermined, or are trifling acts also, such as taking a cup of water, or moving from one part of the room to another?
To which Ramana replied:
"Everything is predetermined".
Even your "confusion" is predetermined. Whether or not you will let go into the reality that everything is predetermined, and have that load of personal blame and responsibility lifted from your shoulders, or you won't, is also predetermined.
It is also helpful to remember that She is everything and everyone, and the trees, the birds and the bees.
Sources:
- There's no free will...accept it, attack it, hide it or ignore it?
- Is everything predetermined, or just the big stuff?
- Updating Your Brain's Software
- Self-inquiry vs the egos/Is - How it works - the neuroscience
Q&A
Q1) Does there need to be a free will / determinism dichotomy in philosophy? Just as free will has been proven inconsistent with science, so has determinism. The double slit experiment shows that the present state of a quantum particle may lead to a spectrum of future states, each with a particular likelihood of occurring. Bringing this to the macroscopic level, perfect knowledge of a person's neuroanatomy would not allow determination of their actions perfectly. In the context of nonduality, this understanding seems to provide another level of freedom, surrender, mystery, spontaneity, etc.
A1) The uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics can't be impacted by your "free will", unless you are personally choosing how to collapse all of those wave functions in your body as you choose. There are approximately 7 X 10 to the 27th power or 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms in a 150 lb human body.
As quantum mechanics only works for sub-atomic particles, the actual number of quantum events in your body is much, much higher than this. You have no ability to be aware of, nor simultaneously arrange over 7 billion, billion, billion events.
Knowing perfectly all of the neuroanatomy and neurochemistry in your own body, so that "you" could exercise "free will" on that is similarly daunting. There are approximately 100 billion neurons and about 50 trillion or so synaptic connections in your body so it would be similarly impossible.
The point of Cave's comment is that if all of that could be known, as it does totally dictate your responses, your behavior could be predicted perfectly. To have personal "free will", you would have to be able to control, manipulate and manage all of that, which you couldn't do.
Also, in order to know and choose between two possibilities with any meaning, you would have to know what their ultimate outcomes would be, as those choices worked their way through space time interacting with countless others, which is similarly unknowable.
As "you" can't know, or control your neurochemistry, neuroanatomy, quantum collapses, future outcomes of decisions, etc., it is all determined without your participation or input. That is what "Determinism" means.
Q2) It's become clear to me that the neuroscience clearly demonstrating there's no free will shatters the paradigm of a "me", which essentially is why it is so disconcerting to many. The science thrusts us, willingly or not, into the reality that there is just nature in action, no "me". I am moved and determined by the forces of nature just as much as the hornet, the deer or the tree.
I love Sam Harris' example of Katrina vs 911, how nature could resolve its problems so much more effectively under this new paradigm.
A2) Yes, as the "I/me/my" is the core of "free will", its unveiling as just a phantom created by a piece of software which needs updating, is a major shift in one's fundamental understanding. In a discussion on FB yesterday, this arose from "nowhere":
"There is an "I" program running, along with a lot of other programs, and the "I" program believes it is in control of the other programs and can tell them what to do. However, it turns out that the System Administrator just put that "I'm in charge" code in the "I" program so it stayed interested in what was happening, not to give it control. The other programs continue to do what they have always been doing and run paying little/no attention to the "I" program as its output has a very low signal/noise ratio, it is always after the fact, and nothing it says ever comes out the way it says it will."
You also touch on a very important aspect of "no free will" which Sam Harris did a nice job on, that we will treat others better when we understand that they don't have any free will either.
Q3) Gary, I am really confused about the free will. You are saying "It feels like a "tipping point”. Without fundamental changes etc etc." Yet at the same time you've been saying that everything is predetermined, all is well and "she" is orchestrating everything better than any human. So what is causing all the distractions then? Aren't we all guided by the consciousness one way or another, awaken or asleep?
A3) Yes, you are correct, everything is predetermined. There are two quotes that are very helpful as to what "everything" means. The first is from Albert Einstein:
"Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper."
The second is from Ramana Maharshi:
Questioner: "Are only the important things in a man's life, such as his main occupation or profession, predetermined, or are trifling acts also, such as taking a cup of water, or moving from one part of the room to another?
To which Ramana replied:
"Everything is predetermined".
Even your "confusion" is predetermined. Whether or not you will let go into the reality that everything is predetermined, and have that load of personal blame and responsibility lifted from your shoulders, or you won't, is also predetermined.
It is also helpful to remember that She is everything and everyone, and the trees, the birds and the bees.