LS free will, mostly...


T. Becker (tbecker@gonzaga.edu)
Tue, 8 Sep 1998 17:21:46 +0100


i'll jump into September and get my feet wet. free will used to really
bother me. it was clear that we either had free will, or it was
completely an illusion, and between Vonnegut and a Christian upbringing, i
really had some hard times thinking about "how i see it."

for me, evidence pointed strongly to determinism--that the future is
already "determined" logicly from the past. this made sense of "The Good
Will", of "God", of "Reason". i was able to accept that "free will" and
"responsibility" and "success" are illusions and all i can do is
participate in this delusion in the manner i was predetermined to
participate, which seemed to be that i strongly believed in those
illusions.

well, determinism didn't quite float my boat. yet, logically, i was
convinced that we had either free will or we didn't. it became clear that
human nature floats somewhere in between.

likewise, with simple logic, i was shatterred the day that i realized i
could not argue a single point if i did not "blindly" accept (and have
faith) in this: the future will behave like the past. suddenly, the Age
of Reason melted into blind faith which completely took away most of the
"meaning" i valued in "knowledge".

i decided to live life as i experienced life, which would prove at least
to seem more fun and more meaningful than to waste away in philosophical
depression.

Pirsig did a good job of putting into words what i have come to believe as
the meaning for my (and all) existence. needless to say, i was really,
really excited after reading his books. i smiled and wanted to dance a
jig.

everything we can call a thing is static and this includes Time, Space,
Logic, human nature, my actions, my choices, a thistle plant, and so on.
all observances are static. all ideas are static. and all of us who are
stuck in bodies and stuck in time are on the road of PROGRESS. Progress
drives evolution; Progress is the aim of evolution. what a wonderful
feeling. it's clear, too. actions and ideas that at first may seem to be
anti-progressional are at *least* UN-progressional. usually they are just
lesser in value than are the dynamic actions and ideas that make us smile
and want to dance a jig.

free will? i have at least as much free will as has the universe, and
that's mighty humbling and freeing at the same time. since i am part of
"the pattern", i have my place and i will do what i will. i am static and
i DO static. that seems like a tight collar, but i am such a complex,
thinking thing that it is clear to see that i do more for the sake of DQ
than does a rock. i hope it is clear.

------------

Dennis wrote:
I think it is possible that if a culture did not have a clue what time
is they are closer to dynamic Quality than say our culture who values
time very highly.

I am writing, have written:
I think the culture that can perceive both Time and nonTime is "better"
("more moral", "of higher value") than the culture who does not "know"
time, AND is better than the culture who values time very highly.

--
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