To Be Determined

[bradybaker]

An essay by me. Enjoy. To Be Determined It is five o’clock in the afternoon, almost time for dinner, and hunger is setting in. You open the refrigerator door and scan the contents, trying to decide what most satisfies your cravings. Last night’s leftovers, a caesar salad, and half-thawed hotdogs all look very appetizing, but you can only choose one option, which will it be? Is there even a choice to be made, or have the contents of tonight’s meal already been determined? This is a question that has baffled some of the world’s greatest minds for centuries. Is an individual free to choose between two or more options, or has the fate of everyone and everything already been sealed? If the reality in which we find ourselves is closely examined, it is plain to see that one is not free in any sense of the word. Even if the universe is interpreted through any one of a religious, scientific or purely logical looking glass, the deterministic nature of existence remains. The first mode in which existence can be analyzed is as a creation of a Supreme Being. In this scenario, the Creator is associated with several grand characteristics, the most important and relevant of which being “all-knowing”. In this situation, the Creator has knowledge of everything that will ever and has ever happened down to the finest detail. Not only does the Supreme Being know what you will have for dinner tonight, but the exact positions and velocities of electrons orbiting atoms that make up Jupiter’s atmosphere, the exact temperature of the most isolated planet in our galaxy and every thought that you have ever thought. Therefore, if all choices that an individual will ever make are already known, they are not choices at all. We, as individuals, are simply following paths that were laid before us when the universe was first brought into existence. If one were to defy this path by “choosing” an alternative, it would contradict the basic assumption that the Supreme Being is all-knowing. This property also logically confines the Creator itself to a determined existence since it is already aware of any “decisions” that it is to make in the future. In the religious view of reality there is no room for free will of any kind, all events from now to the end of time are subject to the deterministic framework set up by the Divine Creator. There is another explanation of the origin of the universe circulating through scientific circles, most commonly referred to as the Big Bang. In this view, all matter and energy along with the space and time to contain them burst into existence in one instant approximately 14 billion years ago. From that moment on, all of history was simply the playing out of subatomic particles according to some basic chemical and physical laws. That model does not change when intelligence is added into the mix. The body and mind of every individual is nothing more than a complex physical system. Bodies break down into organs, organs into cells, cells into molecules, molecules into atoms, atoms into protons, neutrons and electrons. The subatomic particles that make up our brains are not exempt from the laws of physics and chemistry and so we are helpless to direct them. If one “decides” to open their mouth, every part of that action from the electrical activity in the brain to the contraction of the muscle can be explained in terms of chemical reactions. The body can simply be viewed as an ongoing chemical reaction. Any perception of “choice” is actually an illusion that masks the true cause of the action, a very complex web of cause and effect and cause relationships. All of which are as predictable as gravity if all of the inputs to the equation are known. Every future thought, feeling, and action of every individual are completely knowable, and therefore determined, if one has access to the entire set of initial conditions present at the beginning of existence. Lastly, support for the deterministic worldview lies in the plain fact that each unique cause must have a unique effect. This concept is best illustrated through a simple thought experiment. Imagine yourself faced with a choice, you are in the cafeteria at lunch time and can have either a muffin or an apple for dessert. Both options lie before you, which do you choose? After thinking for a few seconds, you decide that your health is important to you and choose the apple accordingly. As you make the decision, take note of the details of the situation that you are in; your mood, your level of hunger, the thoughts running through your mind, and your mother’s nagging voice in the back of your mind. Even take note of physical details such as the current air temperature and aromas wafting thorough the air. These are all factor that go into the decision you have made to eat the apple. Now imagine that those few seconds, in which you made the decision, are erased from existence. You are faced with the same decision again (without the knowledge of having already made the choice). Everything about the situation is identical down to the finest detail. Your mood, appetite and thoughts are the same, you hear your mother’s voice telling you to eat your fruit. Absolutely every detail is identical down to the position of electrons in space and the gravitational effect that the furthest star is having on you. Is it possible for you to choose the muffin this time? No. At that exact instant in time when the choice is made, it is physically impossible for you to choose the muffin. If you were placed into those exact conditions one hundred times, you would choose the apple one hundred times. This shows that every “choice” is nothing more than a product of various factors and if each factor could be measured, the outcome could be reliably predicted. In fact on a larger scale, each instant of the universe is merely a product of the instant that preceded it. The illusion of choice in our daily lives is a very powerful one. At every turn we are faced with various enticing options and lead ourselves to believe that we can choose the path that we desire. However, upon closer inspection of our world through any of a religious, scientific or logical perspective we see that choice is not really choice at all. We are as powerless to change the future as we are to change the past. Although this may seem like a hopeless and depressing worldview, it only requires a simple shift in attitude; we are not here to make choices but to understand them. Furthermore, accepting determinism does not mean that one should give up and let fate lead them where it may. For all practical intents and purposes the illusion of choice is a very positive influence and one should live life with a watchful eye on the decisions that they are faced with. It cannot be denied however, that determinism has far reaching implications on our society especially within our justice system. For example, how can one be held responsible for a crime if they were powerless to take a different path? But one could also argue that our legal system could not be any different. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Comments, questions, raging criticisms? The title is my favorite part.

[wasup]

I like it Nice essay, good job

[spoon]

Interesting read, haven't thought about free-will/determinism for a while now. I had an incredibly tedious software development lecture this arvo and came up something. I don't know as much about the science behind this as I should so correct me if I'm wrong: AFAIK Particles are attributed random motion. Googling something along these lines I came across the Kinetic Theory which tells me that "Gases are composed of molecules in constant random, motion. The moving particles constantly collide with each other and with the walls of the container" link. I didn't know this, I thought that random motion happened at a quantum level. But anyways. Now anyone, having done computer science, knows that always when we refer to random in human constructs it is actually simulated "random". For example the most common (but crap) algorithm for random numbers is seeded from the computers current time. But I digress, we arent talking about a human construct. My question is this: Do you believe that this motion (wether it be at atomic level or quantum) is truly random? If so, wouldnt this throw a wrench in deterministic thinking? Maybe I'm missing something. The alternative is actually quite exciting, if you suppose a deterministic universe - the random motion of particles (down to the quantum level) would be operating on some sort of unknown algorithm. Wouldnt that be fun to discover? Now while random motion would mean a virtual "free will" for particles - this would not move up the chain to humans. I agree that the choices we make are entirely dependant on the sum of our experiences to that instant. -spoon (is sure he jumped somewhere in there with faulty logic)

[bradybaker]

Originally posted by spoon My question is this: Do you believe that this motion (wether it be at atomic level or quantum) is truly random? If so, wouldnt this throw a wrench in deterministic thinking? Maybe I'm missing something. The alternative is actually quite exciting, if you suppose a deterministic universe - the random motion of particles (down to the quantum level) would be operating on some sort of unknown algorithm. Wouldnt that be fun to discover? Well, I'm not really an expert in particle physics, but it seems to me that if all variables about any molecule, atom, particle are known, and the laws governing the interactions of these variables are understood, and enough time were given, the exact properties of this particle could be determined at any point in time, past, present or future. Unforunately, its pretty much impossible to know and understand the interactions of all variables at any time (purely because there isnt enough time in the world to even consider each variable), but that technicality doesn't mean that they aren't there and that this process isn't happening.