FREE WILL, MY DONKEY!

Blog number 353 **** 05 December 2009

Many years ago I attended a magical "growth" seminar called, "est." Very often the trainer would make a prediction about how the audience would react to certain exercises and statements. The predictions always came true, although some predictions seemed to at first seem almost impossible. For instance, the consistent refrain that nobody was to have any timepieces in the room at any time - whether they were broken, didn't work, not used, or many of the other common excuses for having a timepiece in the room, even after repeated admonitions.

Came time to start, the trainer asks, "Does anyone have a watch on their person?" Several seemingly intelligent people raised their hands, and sure enough, the predicted excuses came out. My already low opinion of the average person's awareness fell several more points.

Before starting on a logical progression of the evidence for the total lack of free will in humans, the trainer told us that some of us would laugh, some of us would cry, some of us would become frightened, some bored, some confused, some angry, at the conclusion. And sure enough, that is exactly what happened. The argument went like this; when we are born, we react to something which produces a response, which produces another reaction, another response, another reaction, response, reaction, response, reaction, until finally comes the realization that nothing is happening except response, response, response, response.

Until death.

The final response.

The actual argument was in more detail than I just gave you, and it involved mathematical probabilities, among other things, but that is the gist of it.

There is another way to argue this, which I like better because it involves actual observation of what exists. For instance, I cannot grow any more arms or legs, I cannot get a different body, I cannot sit if I am standing and I cannot stand if I am sitting. Everything is as it is.

You might say, "But I could stand up, using my free will," but I would respond, "Only if you had the desire, and if you have the desire, did you will to have that desire or did the desire to stand just come to you out of the void? Was the desire created by you or was it given to you?"

Notice also that we cannot do anything unless we have an interest in doing that thing, and if we have an interest in doing that thing, we cannot be stopped from doing that thing if it is physically possible, which once again is not up to our free will.

And we don't pick our interests. They pick us.

Now why do I think this is important? Because obviously, if we are not choosing to do what we do, who or what is? I know it's not me, because I raise my arm by just willing it to raise. I have absolutely no idea how to raise my arm. It is beyond my ability to comprehend how I use any part of my body, from oxygen interchange in the lungs to digesting the food that my mouth somehow without my understanding, prepares for the next step. BUT SOMETHING KNOWS.

And it doesn't have to be God, it could just be, "All That Is." SOMETHING. Something is using us. For some purpose? For no purpose? Who knows?

This morning I noticed in the papers, "bombings here," "killings there," "mass murders here," "sibling killings there." If nobody is really, basically "responsible" for these tragedies, then it is possible to say, "It is just time for these things to happen now, that's all. Not my problem."

When the school killings started, it was a new thing and we tried to figure out how this happened. Bullying was, I think, the consensus. But I really believe it was just that it was time for that to occur - like leaves come on the trees in the spring and it is not anyone's fault - it is not even the tree's fault. It's just time.

People tend to think in terms of tragedies and blessings because they are thinking in terms of THIS life - as if it is the only one we have or will ever have. But there is no evidence that such a thing is true. It's just that our culture has conditioned us to look at things in this way. It sells newspaper, if nothing else.

I don't like the term, "think outside the box," but dammit - think outside of it! Get a life!

I love you.