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Let’ talk about
overcoming blame, guilt, envy and
arrogance by overcoming the illusion
of free will. When we believe we
have a free will, we hold each other
and ourselves accountable. To the
extent that we can overcome this
illusion, we will not blame each
other, feel guilty, and envy
others. When we do good things, we
won’t feel arrogant; we’ll feel
grateful.
That’s on a
personal level. Consider how
overcoming the free will illusion
would effect how we treat each other
as countries, and groups of people.
This illusion of free will has
profound and global consequences,
which is why it is important that we
take steps to re-construct our
society in a way that will adhere to
the reality of our causal and
unconscious human wills, and thereby
help us in many ways.
When we say we
have a free will, basically what
we’re saying is that what we do –
what we decide, think, feel – is
completely up to us without anything
that is not in our control
compelling us to do what we do. For
example, let’s say we claim that our
feelings are completely up to us.
If free will means that we can
freely choose to feel what we want –
then who among us would choose to
feel negative feelings? Who among
us would choose to feel anything but
blissful every hour of every day?
If having a free will means that we
could make our moral decisions
completely up to us – that we could
be as good as we would want to be,
who among us wouldn’t be a perfect
angel? Who wouldn’t be good, and do
good, all of the time, especially
toward the people in our lives?
Considering those
questions is a very good way to
understand why we obviously do not
have a free will. Free will is an
illusion. It’s something that we’ve
actually been predetermined to
believe. It hasn’t been up to us
that we believe this. Nature had us
hold the illusion that the world is
flat. We held that illusion for a
long time, and now we know we’re
living on an orb. But this free
will illusion is much more
important. We can conduct our every
day affairs very well, regardless of
whether or not we believe the world
is flat. The belief in free will
affects us much more profoundly.
Free will says
that what we do is completely up to
us. Nothing that is not in our
control is making us do anything.
Right from the start, if you
consider that we have an unconscious
that is always awake and active,
then we can never say that anything
we do has not been made at the level
of the unconscious, or, at the very
least, with the participation of the
unconscious. Think about it. When
we make decisions, these decisions
require concepts, and a
decision-making process. We don’t
hold all of those concepts – many of
them linguistic – in our conscious
mind. Our conscious mind can only
focus on one, or at most a few,
concepts one at a time. So, all of
the words and other concepts that we
draw on for our conclusions and our
decisions must reside in our
unconscious.
If the
unconscious is not in our control –
and it isn’t because, by definition,
we’re not even aware of it – and if
we have to draw on the unconscious
to make every decision we make, then
it’s easy to see why free will is
impossible. It has to be an
illusion. There are many other ways
to understand this, but for this
show, we’re going to be focusing on
overcoming blame, guilt, envy and
arrogance by overcoming the illusion
of free will.
Under this
illusion of free will, we hold
ourselves accountable. When we or
other people do things that are
wrong, we blame, and indict, and
prosecute, and condemn, and punish
ourselves, and each other. When we
do good, we take pride. But pride
often leads to arrogance, and
comparisons. “Because I did this,
I’m better than you,” we boast. We
look down on others, and that’s not
good for our personal relations.
When other people do good, we
sometimes envy them. We don’t
realize that what we’re envying them
about wasn’t really up to them.
They were either lucky, in a certain
sense. That is simply the way
nature compelled them to be.
Let’s look at
these matters one by one, and the
actual harm that the illusion of
free will causes every day at both
personal and societal levels.
Somebody does something wrong. The
belief in free will leads us to
blame them. It leads us to say that
they, of their own free will, did
some wrong toward us. With the
illusion of free will, if we are
ascribing complete accountability to
that other person, and we’re blaming
them, we very likely see them as our
adversary. We’re in competition
with them. We may seek vengeance
and retribution. We may seek to
punish them because they did wrong.
That’s what happens when we ascribe
free will to others.
So, what happens
when we understand that the other
person who did whatever they did
toward us had absolutely no choice
in the matter? They were completely
compelled in what they did. It
wasn’t up to them. To the extent
that we can understand that, we
become more compassionate. Let’s
say, for example, that someone takes
another person’s hand, and pushes it
so that the hand knocks into you.
Are you going to blame the person
whose hand someone else took and
knocked into you, or are you going
to blame the person who took the
other person’s hand and knocked it
into you? Naturally, it’s the
latter.
When you
understand that nobody has a free
will, and that free will is, and
always will be, an illusion, if you
become angry, you’re not going to
become angry with that person. You
won’t wish to punish that person, or
seek vengeance. You may become
angry with the universe, or God, but
you’re not going to be angry with
that person. When you don’t become
angry, and don’t blame that person,
you suddenly find that they and you
are on the same side of the
equation. If both the other person
and you realize that neither of you
have a free will, you might then ask
yourselves “why would fate, or God,
or the universe, or the causal past,
do this?”
What happens is
that your relationship with the
other person is preserved. You and
they are no longer adversaries.
You’re on the same side, trying to
figure everything out. I’m not
saying that understanding that we
don’t have a free will will lead to
everyone being open to aggression by
others. For example, if someone
aggresses toward us in a certain
way, we may have to take certain
measures, like separating ourselves
from them, or whatever. But we
would do this with understanding.
It’s a completely different
experience to hold someone
responsible for something, and
address the situation from that
perspective, than to understand that
both they and you are victims of
this fate.
Another way to
understand this is by considering a
young child. When a young child
does something wrong, we don’t
ascribe free will to them. They
just don’t know any better. They’re
obviously doing the best they can.
So, what happens? We treat that
young child with compassion, and
kindness, and caring. If we take
that same understanding that we
naturally ascribe to young children,
because we don’t believe they have a
free will, and we apply it toward
each other, that becomes the more
intelligent and compassionate way of
addressing the matter.
From a religious
perspective, it makes forgiveness
far easier because, in the final
analysis, there is nothing to
forgive. If the person really
wasn’t to blame, we might want to
“forgive” them, but the
understanding that they are not
blameworthy truly means there is
nothing to forgive. We now
understand how coming to the
understanding that free will is an
illusion can help us to not blame
each other, and help prevent the
kind of conflict that blame
causes.
Let’s consider
guilt. When we do things wrong, we
tend to blame ourselves. When we
blame ourselves, we sometimes
unconsciously punish ourselves in
some way or another. That’s the
free will perspective. What happens
when we understand that free will is
an illusion? We do something
wrong. Like in the first case, we
come to realize that it was wrong.
Our conscience can recognize that we
may have transgressed against
someone else, or against ourselves,
and make that determination without
our punishing ourselves. In other
words, we can say to ourselves,
“fine, I realize that I did wrong,
but it wasn’t my fault. I remain
innocent.”
That, of course,
doesn’t mean we’re going to
continue to do that wrong, because
once we understand that we’ve done
something wrong, it’s good, and
wise, and right to correct
ourselves. We don’t have to punish
ourselves. It would, in fact, be
wrong to punish ourselves for what
we could not help but do.
Let’s go to
envy. Let’s imagine you’re watching
someone do something, and you say to
yourselves “wow; I wish I could do
that.” With our free will
perspective, we conclude that they
did what they did of their own free
will, and we just can’t compare.
That person is just much better at
this. What does that lead to? It
leads to feelings of lower
self-esteem. It leads to our
devaluing ourselves. Self-esteem is
one of the four personality traits
that correlate most strongly with
happiness. To the extent that we
diminish our self-esteem, we likely
diminish our general well-being and
happiness.
What’s the
alternative? When we understand
that someone may have done a
wonderful thing – a great discovery,
or an amazing athletic performance –
and we don’t ascribe a free will to
that person, we’re much less likely
to envy them. We might say to
ourselves “I wish that fate, or
nature, or God, had given me those
kinds of qualities,” but we wouldn’t
compare ourselves with the person in
the sense of ascribing those
qualities to the person’s free will,
and holding ourselves in lower
regard as a result. It wouldn’t
make sense.
As we understand
that we don’t have a free will, we
also prevent arrogance. Think about
it. It’s good to feel good about
doing something, even when we know
that it was not truly up to us. For
example, when many sports stars are
interviewed, they talk about how
they were lucky in certain ways.
They thank God, whom they consider
to have worked through them. They
are very humble in that way.
But when many of
us do something great, we think to
ourselves “wow, I’m special! I did
this of my own free will. I deserve
the credit and rewards.” The
problem with that kind of
attribution is that it naturally
leads to our comparing ourselves
with other people. “I’m better than
that person.” “I deserve more than
that other person.” To the extent
that we do that, we get disconnected
from each other. This arrogance
separates people.
When we
understand that free will is an
illusion, we understand that if we
do something of value, we can feel
grateful that fate is using us as an
instrument for this act. But, there
would be no logical reason for any
kind of pride or arrogance. It is
not “we” who are doing these
things. We’re a vehicle, or
instrument, of God, or fate. We
recognize that we don’t have a free
will, and although we did something
great, we recognize that it’s really
fate’s doing. Through this
understanding, we remain humble.
Our interactions with others remain
on a more equal footing. We don’t
sense ourselves as any better than
others, and that helps keep us
closer together.
Because there is
cause and effect, and because we
have an unconscious, and because if
we had a free will, we would be
completely blissed out and
completely moral, we don’t have a
free will. Then who, or what, are
we to hold accountable and
responsible? There’s an irony in
this. Within the Judeo-Christian
tradition, when something good
happens, or we do something good,
the proper response is appreciation
and gratitude. “Thank God.” “Thank
Goodness.” We say to ourselves that
this good could not have been done
without God. When we do good, we
understand that, but when we do
what’s not so good, all of the
sudden it’s not God’s or fate’s
fault. These religious traditions
teach us that when we do bad, it’s
our fault. That is the harm of the
belief in free will.
What’s the
reality? When something good
happens, it is the result of God, or
fate, or the causal past, or the
universe. When something not so
good happens, again, it’s the result
of God, or fate, or the causal past,
or the universe. The remaining
question is whether or not God, or
the universe, has a free will?
Personally, I hope that God or the
universe is as completely compelled
in what S/He does as we human beings
are. Before I get into why I hope
that, let’s get a bit into the idea
of God.
I was raised in
the Judeo-Christian religion, and I
believe in God. I like the belief
in God. However, some teachings
certainly don’t make sense. Let’s
say our belief is that God is
all-good. We could then ask
ourselves whether or not God can
decide whether or not to be good.
If S/He is all-good, it would seem
that S/He would have to be
all-good. S/He therefore can’t have
a free will. Or, ask yourself
whether God, if S/He so decided,
could suddenly cease existing? Can
God say “I don’t want to be God
anymore. I’m outta here,” and then
everything just disappears? I don’t
think so.
If God is
compelled to be good, and if God is
compelled to be God, then maybe God
doesn’t have a free will either.
This question may be beyond our
reasoning ability, at least for the
time being. But if God, or the
universe, doesn’t have a free will
that would be a good thing because
there are some things in this world
that are really bad, like the way we
treat farm animals. You would not
believe it. We basically torture
them. To the extent that we don’t
have a free will, we don’t have to
blame ourselves for this atrocity,
but I would hope that through
compassion we would come to their
rescue. Although we don’t have a
free will, it seems that God, or
nature, tends to reward us when we
do good, and punish us when we
don’t. It would be very good for us
to stop torturing those animals,
along with lab animals and animals
raised in pet mills.
If God, or nature
doesn’t have a free will either,
then we cannot justly blame
Her/Him/It for this cruelty.
Granted, if we don’t blame God or
nature, something must be
responsible, and this prospect leads
us into a conundrum wherein God
would have to be responsible if God
created everything. But to the
extent that we hold God blameless,
it would help us to be closer to
God, and less judgmental of God.
The illusion of
free will does a lot more harm than
good. Without it, we wouldn’t blame
each other and ourselves. We
wouldn’t feel that we were better
than others. We wouldn’t feel
arrogant. We wouldn’t punish
ourselves when we did wrong. We
would understand that we did wrong,
and would hopefully try to correct
ourselves. We also wouldn’t feel
envious toward others.
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