Sam Harris on "Free Will" 

"Exact" and "same" are exactly the same in that, together, they confer nothing beneficial to a phrase.

@@Longtack55 was just trying to emphasize what the joke was sir

Don't you hate it when your stomach drops? But we have to man up, go through the negative energy motions of our gut brain/soul and accept what is.

Solid

nice

Lol I got the joke 😀

@Kehnai Bohnyu Lol, his brain!

Lmao

lmfao this is hilarious

No you decide to bash the brain because you are a follower of your guru Sammy and not Yahuah or his Son Yahushua 2 Timothy 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, not set apart from the world (pw unholy), 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Praying COVID-19 patient, 82, is bludgeoned to death at Lancaster hospital - atheists in action ??? Yeah no need for moral conviction which they erroneously call faith ( fides goddess) Sammy boy here would say he had no choice but to pick up that oxygen tank and beat his brains out , right? Sammy is fulfilling prophesy as submitted by Apostle Shaul.

That’s why he is not impressed 😜

🙌🏻

I think he is wrong (It is my choice tho)

@@joshmiller9559 It is your choice that you think that, yeah?

Nice!!

***** Both myself and the introducer completely disagree. All Sam Harris DOES is get to the point. As to the throat clearing, It doesn't bother me. Plus, most people are very stupid, and benefit from having a looooong time to process new ideas about abstract, intangible topics. If the pace and speech bother you so much, then I suppose it's good that he's primarily recognised as a writer, and has written a book on the topic, which is plugged in the intro.

We're not machines built out of logical gates, like computers, though I really liked the idea that we can replace neurons and still be the same consciousness :3 As long as evolution can do magical things like trick us into thinking we have free will, why can't it give us free will?

Ayyye!

hahahaha

Platypus are monotremes ; 5 species exist and 4 are echidnae. Just tossing that out in case anyone thought that they were birds, reptiles, mammals, or something... We have to pretend to act as though we have free-will just as we have to pretend we're not brains in vats, and SH addresses this, just not enough. Heigh-ho. Maybe I've seen too much presuppositional apologetics nonsense lately...e.g. Sye Ten Bruggencate, Matt Slick, and even the much-vaunted William Lane Craig, no matter how he tap-dances around with crap versions of TAG, CAG, FAG, and SLAG...! XD Sorry couldn't resist it.

I agree😂

@@romanfrenkel8717 disagreements is bcs you have pre existing memory of what you experienced

I’ve realized this and I almost wish I would’ve never of tasted this piece of knowledge. It has made me somewhat uneasy. Somehow a part of me wishes I could think outside of the premise of my two brain hemispheres to not be predictable, which is completely crazy. Anyways just loosing my mind here

I’ve realized this and I almost wish I would’ve never of tasted this piece of knowledge. It has made me somewhat uneasy. Somehow a part of me wishes I could think outside of the premise of my two brain hemispheres to not be predictable, which is completely crazy. Anyways just loosing my mind here

I’ve realized this and I almost wish I would’ve never of tasted this piece of knowledge. It has made me somewhat uneasy. Somehow a part of me wishes I could think outside of the premise of my two brain hemispheres to not be predictable, which is completely crazy. Anyways just loosing my mind here

Life is all about karmic retribution.

But we all have the ability to discern. The mind is a chatterbox. You remain aware and eventually you become quite capable of choosing what thoughts to ignore and which ones to take to heart, free will. ​ We all have Divine souls and flesh bodies. Our souls are immortal and reincarnate. Life is so much more complex than our parents just having sex, believe me, God Blessed me and His wonderful new practice Falun Dafa explains creation, trust me please and take a look.

Exactly.

+Joe Jr. LOL!!

I am freely choosing not to comment.

You can't freely choose to not comment because every choice is motivated.

vidfreak56 - Every choice is the outcome of countless atoms behaving to simple laws of physics that could not behave otherwise. Some of those atoms and molecules are in my brain and body. Some are in the surrounding environment.

Coming back 9 yrs later and still Great.

Very relatable. I've read the book previously, but learned so much from this talk!

@@romanfrenkel8717 To not waste my time being angry at people for their actions, holding grudges, etc. Also to realize that it's irrational to think anyone can just "pull themelves up by their bootstraps" or "make the right choice" in ways that people think they can.

@@sparkside217 people on the surface will hear this argument and think that having no free will is a negative and cant be true, but if you look deeper and think about it plus sam explains this, it's actually the ultimate reason for compassion. i think people's egos and closemindedness prevents mainstream conversation of this topic though honestly.

The word conscience is the prefix con(with) and the word science, conscience.

H

Timothy Stratton thank you Timothy! Your words are very helpful

I believe you're talking about mindfulness. Something that Sam talks about often and from my perspective seems to refute his no free will argument? If you stop to contemplate, are mindful of your immediate negative action, say just before you're about to lift the spoon full of ice cream into your mouth, isn't this a means of at least trying to control that lack of free will? Anyhow, I'm coming to the realization that some of us, me included, who are deficient in habit control, discipline, etc., need more mindfulness and self talk to at the very least, help control our ingrained self direction.

I agree that willpower is very limited... and therefore you need to form/change habits in a way that doesn't rely on willpower. I don't think the best way to change a habit is to stop judging it and stop trying to change. In fact, I don't think this would work at all for most people. Look at the "fat acceptance movement"... becoming complacent with your bad habits doesn't lead to change but rather unsurprisingly it leads to... complacency. Instead you need to fully understand how the brain forms and creates habits and then properly use that process to retrain and reform your habits. This requires much less willpower because you are working with the brain rather than against it. I've read many books on this subject and none of them suggest your method (I'm not saying it doesn't work... just that based on the science I've read and PROVEN working methods of changing habits/brain thought processes I don't see how it could work). The Power of Habit, Habits: A 12-Week Journal to Change your Habit, Atomic Habits, and Feeling Good are some really good books on this subject.

Life is all about karmic retribution.

Sam Harris is a devoutly religious man. The State is his Religion, the Government is his Church, Politicians are his Clergy, Law is his Bible, and he has lots and lots of Faith!

#Jew

Carlin is my 'god' - in a weird way. I call myself a "Carlinist". I agree with almost everything he said and his philosophy is cool. He got old and said he doesn't worry about things like politics anymore because he "doesn't have a stake in the outcome". i.e. He's too old to be affected by government decisions. I, too, am getting older - no choice, dammit! I still care, though - about climate change for instance. Personally, I think there's a good chance we'll have a nuclear war or famine or plague or something that will end our technological civilization for millennia - kinda like Planet of the Apes without the apes lol. Detour: I think the ending of Planet of the Apes is the coolest one ever. Instead of Heston SAYING that humans had a nuclear war, they SHOW the Statue of Liberty all bent. And that's why the apes call the area the Forbidden Zone. And THAT is why Hollywood is the envy of the whole world. They have screenwriters who invent this stuff. It's also like Forbidden Planet's "reveal" where the monster is really the projected thoughts of the character. That has to be one of the deepestFreudian reveals in history. Say what you will about Hollywood; When it comes to stuff like that, no place else does it better. RIP George Carlin. Like you, I'm an atheist and think there are mostly idiots in America. I think about 1% of Americans keeps the whole thing going - Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and some others. Who am I forgetting? I would have loved to have dinner with George Carlin and Christopher Hitchens and a few hookers. Did I say that? My bad. See? That's what no free will brings!

Carlin is a genius love the guy

@@The22on you're not part of the 1%, ergo why the fuck would they care what you think. in fact, by your lights, why should anyone care what you think?

Thanks for that great quote, which I can appreciate more than most, knowing the true nature of "free will" and our connection to it. Sam Harris doesn't realize that he is an intelligent bag of contradictions. Because, he believes that we don't have free will, and yet there is no "God." So, exactly who or what's will IS done, Sam? He won't understand until he reads my book, which will never happen. Perhaps in his next life? God's prophet has spoken.

Life is all about karmic retribution.

Same

This argument is the same as "the god of the gaps" argument. Determinism has relied more and more on the scientific argument because it leads opposition to have to theorize outside of our known world. We know the limits of our current understanding and it's very, very limited. Determinism is not a model to build anything useful from in human social systems like laws, education, parenting, healthcare and so on. I have never met a child that believes in determinism making it a learned theory, that does not make it untrue, but odd that free thought (reasoning) would lead to a conclusion that is predetermined. It is useless to debate on either side it is far more sane and practical to admit we don't know but it at the moment seems far more likely that determinism is correct. we know we are 3 dimensional beings and can mathematically prove the potential for the existence of other dimensions. We know we can't replicate the 4th dimension but can demonstrate what the shadow of a tesseract would look like to us. This could be relevant to this debate if consciousness existed outside of our limited 3D bodies. I can't argue the likelihood of that just the possibility and if that were true and has the potential to be true this whole debate is pointless. If "I think therefore I am" can I prove that you think? Can I prove that you exist? Should I operate on that assumption or the one that doesn't justify me killing you because your a figment of my imagination. Long winded way of saying even if you can argue for a theory that makes perfect sense if its application are not practical why try to convince others unless you had an implicit bias.

This "free will is illusion" is just silly nonsense and it gets really frustrating hearing the same misconception spread time and time again

@@gJonii it is obvious to anyone that has looked at it

@@troyzieman7177 Clearly not. Although, to his credit, the speaker presented one of the lesser crazy versions of this idea. He seems to be almost there understanding where social responsibility etc comes from, but is failing to understand what self is

Just like cruelty, the urge for retribution is an important part of society and not acknowledging it (along with the ignoring of free will) is part of Western societies illnesses.

@@pashute12 Western society doesn’t ignore free will. By and large, it (mistakenly) believes free will exists.

@@pashute12 free will is coded into US constitution, Sam mentions it

LOL

Life is all about karmic retribution.

His consciousness was aware that he was giving a speech, not the consciousness itself giving the speech

*his subconscious

@@robertjsmith bro you might want to delete all these comments lol

You would say that, wouldn't you?

You tell me. You know me better than anyone else sweetheart.

Hitch said that right?

Yes sir, He did!

Hey just curious, would you happen to know which vid or book says that i would love to watch or read it

One of the best comments on this issue that I've ever seen !! I'm totally with you on this.... I'm able now not to hate a person for hurting me....I might still hate what they've done to me, and to decide not to be with them if possible, but I no longer see them as having had the "freedom" to have decided to act differently...... Likewise, I couldn't have chosen not to be hurt at the time..... Accepting no free will makes me more aware of the influences other people can have on me - and maybe more importantly, the influences I can have upon them..... I think Christians are supposed subscribe to the commandment "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" I'm not a Christian, but am getting closer to this way of being, through "no free will" It doesn't mean I brush off hurtful things that I've done, but I can shed unecessary guilt, and make better decisions.....no free will doesn't negate learning from experience..... I've noticed that a lot of the anger and bitter comments come from people defending free will from a religious point of view.....very often lacking compassion, understanding, and certainly "love" It's quite striking, tbh...... I'm grateful to have recognised no free will......it became obvious to me years ago.....but I lacked the perspective to have been able to see the positive side of it..... So totally refreshing to read your comment !

Naw fuck him bro

Well said. I'm trying to do the same in my own life but it really is quite inconvenient that as it seems to me, holding a grudge is in my nature.

Life is all about karmic retribution.

To expand our consciousness and spiritual wisdom, we all need a great teacher.....................falun dafa

To expand our consciousness and spiritual wisdom, we all need a great teacher.....................falun dafa

thats the argument, but come on, thats not true

The idea is that even that "feeling" of being able to choose is an illusion.

Joel Jensen, אתה כלב Schlomo Shillman Shekelstein , you guys are both wonderful and I feel at home as I read a respectful debate between 2 people and 2 different ideas. Personally this concept of no free will came to my attention a week ago and I have not been able to put it down. Your argument has helped me to continue clarifying the concept in my head. My addition to the argument is this: If we had free will then I could have had pizza for breakfast this morning. But that thought never came to my consciousness because I am not free. To truly be free we would have to have the ability to make any decision or perform any humanly possible action at any time. Little Timmy May have been able to have pizza for breakfast because it was in his mind, but I couldn’t have. It wasn’t a choice for me to make. I envision this as a mountain of choices being made. Trillions of decisions at the bottom layer, then a little less based on those decisions, then as you go up the mountain there are less and less options. You go up the mountain and trillions of layers of decisions have been made. Then you get to the top of the mountain. As you near the top, you enter a cloud. This cloud is where the decision making process starts to enter your conscious. As you break through the cloud, you are now in you conscious. At the very tip of the mountain you have a few choices left to make (at least 2). Then you make your final choice. But you weren’t able to make “any” choice. This would be required in order to label the choice as “free”. However you were able to make a conscious choice. We are still able to make choices, but they are limited. And that is what it means to not have free will. It is not the ability to make choices, that we don’t possess, it is the lack of the ability to make any choice.

Joel Jensen Lmbo, no, not this morning there wasn’t 😆

Joel Jensen He (Sam Harris), does seem to think only his way is the right way. This definitely makes sense as everything he says has lots of thought put into it, and he only says what he is certain of. He is incredibly brilliant. I have been watching his RU-vid videos and listening to his podcasts and his debates. However I do find that he is mistaken in this video. He has things mostly correct. What we think and the choices we have are mostly determined. However, he doesn’t have a valid argument for the example of choosing to raise your left or right hand. There is no prior influence that is deciding this decision for you. You carry no weight on either choice. Your nature and nurture couldn’t possibly predict the decision you will make. The study that shows the brain choosing before your conscious does is flawed. Therefore we have 1 example of a non-determined choice that we can make. There is gray area here. I think 99%+ of all the actions we take are not based on free will. However that does not prove, and there is no proof, that free will does not exist.

Great video

@@jamesiaustin4517 legit. regardless of free will there are things obviously good and bad for us.

It didnt hold true for most of human history but only recently does it hold true. Just in the 1960 scientist were inflicting std on third world country citizens for human experiments. Not long ago, the ussr was killing millions. And before that slavery was common place. love and compassion has not made sense to humans for most of our history and is not objective truth

Yes! When I tell people we have no free will, they will ask, “Well, why then don’t you just lie in bed all day?” Simply put, getting out of bed makes sense. Just like love and compassion make sense. Just because my will isn’t mine (isn’t free) doesn’t suddenly change the fact that I still desire all the same things that I did before (like being successful and having great relationships). We aren’t free to will anything, but we also aren’t free not to desire things or to be any less intelligent than we actually are. If some people sometimes are not free not to commit crimes, many, many other people are not free not to be good. Sam Harris, for example, is not free not to be a brilliant speaker.

Life is all about karmic retribution.

clarity of thoughts, brevity of language, some humor and oh yes, the soothing voice!

"I realized that we always do our best in every decision we make. " false - the decision you make is already flawed when it disobeys Torah - it is set to fail and leads you down the slippery downward spiral to the lake of fire. One Torah transgression leads to another - eg lies can lead to murder which can lead to more lies and more murder

Totally agree with you ! Regarding the other comment, I'd maybe say that we make the choices that make most sense to us.....and we can't choose what makes us feel that a choice is what makes most sense for us.....

@@Mr2TIMOTHY4V2 but why should we be expected to have blind faith in the Torah ? I really struggle with that......and I'm unable to steer my thoughts in any other way..... So that means I should be tortured for eternity ? Can't I live a good, useful life without the faith necessary for your religion ?🤔 And why choose yours above others ? I'm simply unable to override my supposed free will..... So I'm on the road to eternal damnation I guess..... How would you define your "self" ?

@@Mr2TIMOTHY4V2 it seems to me the Torah has lead plenty of people down that slippery path to immorality and murder all on its own. Not sure of the relevance of your comment

@@orias12 brilliant

How did I never notice that before!? In no less than 10 seconds of resuming the conversation (after reading your message), he did exactly that! I cannot unhear it now... So thanks a lot for that! :p

@@Legac3e Ahahahha, suffer like I do! lol

Life is all about karmic retribution.

We all have free will and God respects that gift and that is why He has permitted us to allow this planet to become demonic but no more, the Apocalypse is upon us................falundafa

@@jeffforsythe9514 Lmfao, hilarious. Did a bronze-aged fairy tale book tell you that? Lol it's like you're children. I think it's time the world grows up and stops believing in our imaginary friend.

The brain is like the cockpit of an airplane and the soul is the pilot...To expand our consciousness and spiritual wisdom, we all need a great teacher.....................falun dafa

correct, it's subconscious programming. Sam is far advanced in how the brain works

They bore you though

You remain aware and eventually you become quite capable of choosing what thoughts to ignore and which ones to take to heart, free will. ​ We all have Divine souls and flesh bodies. Our souls are immortal and reincarnate. Life is so much more complex than our parents just having sex, believe me, God Blessed me and His wonderful new practice Falun Dafa explains creation, trust me please and take a look.

and yet, we do... I chose, to choose to write that.

@@nebulous6660 yeah but you didn’t choose to choose to choose to write that, did you?

Actually yes, I chose to click the video, then chose to listen to it, then chose to read your comment, then chose to think about it, then chose to respond to it, then chose my words carefully, then chose to write every letter of my response, then chose to proof read it, then chose to think about it some more, then chose to post my reply. Now I've chosen to repeat the process. That's a shitload of choices. ALL ME BABY!

@@nebulous6660 That's not you. You were compelled to do it based on how you felt. Just like I was compelled to write this comment in order to prove you wrong.

@@crepooscul you just said I did it lol

I was thinking of Rush when this was starting!

More accurately, the quote is from Neil Peart (requiescat in pace). Epic, as are all his lyrics :-)

"slappin da base!

Very true, Jack. For, "the words of the prophets are written on the studio walls." But what most people don't understand is that there is a huge difference between WILL and CHOICE. You can CHOOSE to desire any particular outcome in any particular situation. And maybe that outcome will happen, and maybe it won't. But if you were able to WILL that outcome, it would NECESSARILY come to pass, GUARANTEED! Sam Harris doesn't realize that he is an intelligent bag of contradictions. Because, he believes that we don't have free will, and yet there is no "God." So, exactly who or what's will IS done, Sam? He won't understand until he reads my book, which will never happen. Perhaps in his next life? God's prophet has spoken.

On the album the lyrics read "If you choose not to decide, you cannot have made a choice", but in the song it is "still have made a choice". I think Neil was making a point......or he wasn't : )

You remain aware and eventually you become quite capable of choosing what thoughts to ignore and which ones to take to heart, free will. ​ We all have Divine souls and flesh bodies. Our souls are immortal and reincarnate. Life is so much more complex than our parents just having sex, believe me, God Blessed me and His wonderful new practice Falun Dafa explains creation, trust me please and take a look.

If you make a good price, the determinists won't have a choice!

No capitalism , no communism , no theism no atheism etcetera , no separatism . Separatism is wrong it breeds violence . Favouritism leads to conflicts . RU-vid Jiddu Krishnamurti talks at the united nations . Theism and atheism and christianity and islam and gnostic and agnostic are not the truth . The truth is the unity in impartiality principle . Yes unselfishness . Yes mindfulness training . Meditation . Copy that . Magnificent obsession . Maturity .

@@s4ckm4n p

Xd

Alex Spevak Not a shred of evidence, my friend. Baseless assertions. Utter nonsense.

dubunking simply overwhelming evidence.

Alex Spevak There is not a shrewd of evidence. Quote some scientific for once please? Lol.

dubunking repeating. One track record lol

Alex Spevak There is not a shred of scientific evidence to prove that Free will is an illusion. If there is, quote it.

The gold have a price; so its gold or priceless ?? Chose one .. ʷᵃⁱᵗ

That's a very fair response.

People often choose the paths of most resistance. Go frog man go.

stephen hogg Playing the hand you are dealt is just making choices predicated on thoughts and wants that were not brought into existence entirely by you, so no that is not free will.

@@michaelnickles1986 No doubt from some point of view, we are no more free than rocks. The standard argument against ‘freewill’ is ultimately irrefutable, because it can appeal to an infinite regress of causes. But how is this perspective useful? Does this perspective really have any epistemic authority over other perspectives - those that allow for degrees of freedom? What does it help us to explain, to understand better?

@@michaelnickles1986 Do you even know what you are referring to when you use the term 'free will'?

Great point. Leaving a comment so that it gets bumped up, hopefully :)

BradGatton Exactly.

Yep

Everytime you decide anything you're showing that YOU don't think what your saying is true.

God You aren't aware of Sam's book(let) on free will? I am; I read it several times. Somewhere there's a short video of him that came out when he released his book I wish I could find, explaining what he means, though you can just read it in his book. Plain and simple: You're wrong. Sam Harris has explicitly said and written on MANY occasions that you're not really making any decisions and that self itself is just an illusion. It's as though you'd like to deny the production of electric current in generators because you can prove that generators have no electric current in them. But, you can't even come close to acting as though you really believe this; so what is it that you're wanting to accomplish by promoting this twaddle? The only reason I've ever seen speculated was that free will is the foundation of the concept of human rights. Once you've dispensed with free will, you've dispensed with the idea of violating free will. Could you tell me what other possible utility there could be for getting rid of the idea of free will?

Life is all about karmic retribution.

Could you love me too?

Silly. We all have free will and God respects that gift and that is why He has permitted us to allow this planet to become demonic but no more, the Apocalypse is upon us................falundafa

You have free will, we all do. Who else could make such a mess out of our own home, mankind, always choosing the wrong path because of greed.

Harris 100 religion 0

There can be infinte regression on that one. "We don't choose to choose to choose to choose what we choose." So it becomes obvious it is meaningless, which it was in the first place.

@Firebird Infinite Regression is a hallmark of a logical inconsistency. Meaning by introducing it in this instance, Harris is critiquing free will, like he would with the idea of a creator god - after all, who created that creator god? So no, it is not meaningless. In fact, it does exactly what it is meant to, and what you yourself understood; it unveils that free will is an illogical concept.

We all have free will and God respects that gift and that is why He has permitted us to allow this planet to become demonic but no more, the Apocalypse is upon us................falundafa

Life is all about karmic retribution.

Except you don't

So why do Buddhist and Taoists cultivate separately from one another, or cultivate individually in the first place, if there is no such thing as you and I?

​@@AkosM Just saw this. There is a "you" and "I," just not in an ultimate sense. They're created realities formed in perception. In other words, separation (and categorizing into independent things) is a product of the mind, not reality in its basic form which is nondual and interdependent. "You" and "I" have the same substantiality as the lap or a wave. You can sit on a lap or surf on a wave, so they have a reality-just not an absolute or independent one. When the person stands the lap is gone just as after the wave crests it's gone too. So, they're not "things". They're forms the body or ocean takes at different moments in time. Same with "you" and "I". When thought is absent the "you" and "I" disappears.

Thats too bad b/c it was a pretty silly video bro

Now to open both eyes. We all have free will and God respects that gift and that is why He has permitted us to allow this planet to become demonic but no more, the Apocalypse is upon us................falundafa

The only reason that this planet is in such a mess is because we have free will. Free to choose polluting the earth, air, and water, free to be liars, free to be hateful and greedy. God did not create a bunch of mindless beings, robots, and we became warped but all is not lost......................falundafa

You remain aware and eventually you become quite capable of choosing what thoughts to ignore and which ones to take to heart, free will. ​ We all have Divine souls and flesh bodies. Our souls are immortal and reincarnate. Life is so much more complex than our parents just having sex, believe me, God Blessed me and His wonderful new practice Falun Dafa explains creation, trust me please and take a look.

"I realized there was no free will .." - Why do you mean by "I" If you're not your thoughts neither your brain, what are you ?

That is an idiotic statement. I have two choices. As a law student, i could study for an exam in a couple days or i could go drinking. The best choice would be studying, yet i chose to go drinking. Free will. Same people eat out of stress yet the better option would be exercising. Why not exercise? The most glaring issue is as a volunteer firefighter why would i chose to go into a burning house, even though it puts my life in danger? I am risking my life for someone i will never know for no gain.

@@bornfree8073 you are a slave to the consequences of both actions. One you seem beneficial, one superficial. So you have a choice between actions, but you cannot decide the consequences of those actions. So your "free will" is limited by predetermined consequences.

@@oh-k-den2640 So? Freewill is real and it is self evident. Pick your favorite free will denier, go watch how they live. They operate like they have it.

@@oh-k-den2640 dude, people who believe free will obviously know that the brain is affected by other people, genetics, etc. For some reason people who denie the existence of free will often confuse free will with omnipotence, even though the fact that our mind changes and gets affected by outer forces is a strong evidence for the existence of some "will" inside us

We all have free will and God respects that gift and that is why He has permitted us to allow this planet to become demonic but no more, the Apocalypse is upon us................falundafa

You remain aware and eventually you become quite capable of choosing what thoughts to ignore and which ones to take to heart, free will. ​ We all have Divine souls and flesh bodies. Our souls are immortal and reincarnate. Life is so much more complex than our parents just having sex, believe me, God Blessed me and His wonderful new practice Falun Dafa explains creation, trust me please and take a look.

@@jeffforsythe9514 😂😂😂

@@jeffforsythe9514 Stop trolling!🙄

Life is all about karmic retribution.

lmfao

brilliant

Nice.

Jw Goedhart lol

Sorry, it turns out that was also an illusion.

It's not Sam's looks that remind you of Stiller, it is his voice...

except their own, right?

@Keylanos Lokj Not my conversation really, but for starters, why don't you read everything you've written in this thread so far? Can you see how it reeks of "holier than thou" loftiness? What exactly makes you think anyone should for even an instant grant you the authority to assume such a tone with them? You are addressing people who by your own estimation are essentially worshiping their own intellect. Yet your prose is a near meaningless word salad of religiously seasoned gibberish. What do you think you're accomplishing with this tactic? I used to have a hobby of metaphorically stomping out people like you; because I grew up with people that would turn away from you, embarrassed that you call yourself Christian, as they do, yet make a complete mockery of their quiet faith (still fake, but at least they try) with your self aggrandizing wordiness designed to call attention to yourself and place yourself in a position of unearned glory. So, let's get down to it; shall we? What's your bedrock? Where does all this "truth" come from? The bible? It's innerant? Come now; don't keep us in suspense. We all want to know what THE great Christian with all his many many words of wisdom has to say. Keep it simple though. I'll just skim through the word salad to find the response, if any, that you make to my query.

hat is an idiotic statement. I have two choices. As a law student, i could study for an exam in a couple days or i could go drinking. The best choice would be studying, yet i chose to go drinking. Free will. Same people eat out of stress yet the better option would be exercising. Why not exercise? The most glaring issue is as a volunteer firefighter why would i chose to go into a burning house, even though it puts my life in danger? I am risking my life for someone i will never know for no gain

@@bornfree8073 The point is that our thoughts and actions are informed by everything that has happened to us from conception until now. You are not the curator of any of the things that you are a product of therefore you don't have the freedom to be any way other than the way you are.

I think the simplest definition is the freedom to do want you want or will

​@@SaetherOfficialThen bacteria or even viruses have free will. They want something on their level of existense (consume shugar for example) and have freedom to do it. Even rocks and stones trends to a physical and chemical balance. Do they have free will too?

@@CirclesOfMotion demonstrate that bacteria have that freedom. That they are not bound to do what their instincts tell them.. To be fair.. I don't believe in free will, so..

Just look up libertarian free will dude. You have google and obviously youtube at your disposal.

Free will as sam states is that you made a decision, now is it possible to have made some other decision in that same situation(same world, atom for atom) .

@@hunter_w I used to think our actions were emotional responses only to our lot. However, by becoming born again, God gives us a new heart and we know our sins are made clean and we can learn to discern the right path from the wrong one. Satan waits at the door and deceives those who do not harken to the voice of the Lord. But all who listen to the word of God and find Jesus and believe in Him, shall have everlasting life.

Yep.

Nope.Choices are made by genetics and epii genetics that you did not choose.You have no will just the appearance you have,

Kind of but let's be honest, what shows up around you is what you only know. Outside of that, there is no free will, also people are born with certain genetics. People honestly don't choose what they think. I mean effort is real but the origin was never free will rather random thoughts.

What kind of will maybe not your own will if we don't choose how we act and that's a process of random choices that doesn't make you the person that choose for those actions i mean i accept the fact that we have to behave the right way but you can't know for sure that we always have the same control over what we do and i don't mean that for crimes

God gave us free will, life is about discernment. To expand our consciousness and spiritual wisdom, we all need a great teacher.....................falun dafa

What do you. Ean by giving us purpose as well? Do you that in having "no free will" then the average brain leans toward the purpose of "being good" and "becoming more advanced beings" ?

To return home to Heaven one needs truthfulness-compassion-tolerance and to suffer.........................falundafa

The truth is being good is its own reward. That was the basic message of both Jesus, Buddha and The Lord..............................falundafa

We are here to seek the Divine and to become spiritually enlightened. Falun Dafa shows the Way.

You remain aware and eventually you become quite capable of choosing what thoughts to ignore and which ones to take to heart, free will. ​ We all have Divine souls and flesh bodies. Our souls are immortal and reincarnate. Life is so much more complex than our parents just having sex, believe me, God Blessed me and His wonderful new practice Falun Dafa explains creation, trust me please and take a look.

And how did that go?

@@nybakg I think the absence of an answer is your answer.

You don't need to know the metaphysical underpinnings of a criminal to want them off the streets and rehabilitated. If anything realising that they are who they are and that is why they did what they did, allows for a more compassionate viewpoint, with hopes that their caused behaviour can be rectified, rather than just writing them off as a 'bad' person.

@@smeeself That is an excellent point you make, I actually feel a bit reassured after reading that, so thank you very much! If I'm being honest with myself though, I still feel an emotional reaction that makes me not compassionate toward violent criminals at all, even while accepting that every thought and action is essentially predetermined... It's funny, something akin to cognitive dissonance. I understand that 'X-person' only did 'X-crime' as if pre-programmed to do so, but... I can't help but hate those people who hurt innocent people and animals. I suppose empathy and compassion are sort of like mental muscles that can be exercised? Then again, they might just be things that are hard-wired for each individual, however strong or weak they are in that area... I apologize for going off on a tangent, but thank you once again for your insight!

@AnoNymous-gn6tl I'm with you. Finding compassion for the truly horrible is difficult. And I'm not even sure that realising that fundamental free will is not a thing necessarily helps with that, but it certainly doesn't equate to the simplistic objection used by some, that punishment is no longer warranted. Ultimately, having a mental understanding of how a 'deterministic' universe works doesn't matter day to day. In much the same way that understanding the fundamental laws of motion doesn't impact how you try to catch a deep fly ball. All the best. 😃

@@smeeself HA! I love your analogy at the end there. Very well-said my friend! I wish you all the best as well. 🤝😃

What a breath of fresh air to read some comments with exchanging thoughts with respect! I wish comments were more like this

I commiserate with you completely, but I suspect you will, though. As stupid or mean-spirited as many of them may be, there usually are one or 2, at least, that may be worth reading.

Comment of the year.

Relatable

Lol! Right on!

@@kreiziekeiks6374 still

The brain is like the cockpit of an airplane and the soul is the pilot.

We all have free will and God respects that gift and that is why He has permitted us to allow this planet to become demonic but no more, the Apocalypse is upon us................falundafa

boson96 I agree that morality is subjective. I’m also more compatibilist than hard determinist. With that being said, I would think that HD would either require subjective morality or no morality

Just because it’s subjective doesn’t make it invalid.

... ... circumstance and nature of choice as question of phenomenology ... all descriptions and interpretations of specific choices comprise 'objectivity' ... 'subjectivity' not being good descriptor of choice instances

... ... ultimately hard determinism governs better if not at the least those benign conscious choices, in upholding equitability-sustainability deliverables ... on both UTILITY (worthwhile benefit) and DEONTOLOGY (impersonal duty) rationales ... empiric-parametric determinants of wellbeing are objectively straightforward to benchmark

Or to add on to that, why or really HOW can I possibly try to be something other than what I am not if I am just a brain puppet.

A good place to start is Nisargadatta Maharaj. Thoughts happen.. we are not our thoughts, we are not our physical bodies as the world is not physical. When one realizes this it does not change the person.. it's described by some as a slight inner shift. Ralph goes on as himself.. in fact he becomes more individualistic the less he identifies with his body and thoughts. Life is happening, nothing has ever happened (Paul Hedderman)

Nakky Dave I always get lost in the reductionism of Eastern thought. Remarks like "the world is not physical" or "nothing has ever happened" seem so semantic, contradictory, and meaningless to me.

Ralph, I hate to be making a mistake here, so correct me if I'm wrong. Wikipedia gives three definitions for fatalism: 1)The view that we are powerless to do anything other than what we actually do. Included in this is that man has no power to influence the future, or indeed, his own actions. 2)An attitude of resignation in the face of some future event or events which are thought to be inevitable. 3)That acceptance is appropriate, rather than resistance against inevitability. It seems to me that fatalists believe that there is nothing we can do because the equation of the universe is written and we are helpless before it as we watch the movie of our lives play out. Determinists seem to believe the same exact thing except they make an important distinction that we are a part of that equation that governs the universe and just because our actions cannot be anything other than what they will be, we are still important actors in this movie where the script is set in stone. Odd, it seems like determinists lock more pieces into place. It seems implicit to me that in the fatalist view you have to stand outside of this all powerful "fate" in order to be the "victim" of it. To be helpless before a fate first implies that you are not an instrument of that fate correct? How can one be "helpless" before themselves?

+Dark Garison I dont understand your last two questions truthfully. The point I'm making is that Sam States that selves do not exist. We are just purely consciousness, watching our bodies in motion acting upon impulses and conditioning. This is hard enough to grasp because I certainly feel like I am orchestrating my actions. Nonetheless, once we accept the belief that we are not controlling our actions in any real sense, what incentive do I have to really go achieve anything? I can't take responsibility for those accomplishments or my failures. I'm just witnessing them through conscious experience. Where does effort or determination even come from then? And how or why would determination to achieve things appear and disappear at a whim depending on what I am doing? I find Harris's argument valid, however, I can't map it onto reality.

People have lost their moral compass. We all have free will and God respects that gift and that is why He has permitted us to allow this planet to become demonic but no more, the Apocalypse is upon us................falundafa

You need to read some books son if you find his speech logical XD

@@primeminister1040 Care to say which book Mr PM or do you want to just be inconclusive? oh and don't call me or anyone other than your own son your son. I ain't your son. Funny chap. Go pray or read your bible. You'll get a lot of logic that way. Aight. I'm off to sacrifice a lamb!

Physics (Quantum Mechanics) PROVED PROVED PROVED over 50 years ago that the universe at the quantum level is 0% deterministic. NO PART OF THE UNIVERSE IS PREDETERMINED. Until my fellow atheists get their stupid heads out of the sand and quit pretending Physics and Quantum Mechanics don't exist, we'll never get intelligent Physicists to join atheist societies. You guys don't get it. Harris sounds EXACLY like Deepak Chopra here. It's super, super, super embarrassing for atheists to be so pro-science everywhere except when it comes to the proven parts of Quantum Mechanics. Here's a link that, if you remove the blanks I put in it so it wouldn't get my post removed, talks about this from the world's most intelligent person who is a Physicist. You want him to become part of the atheist society, then denounce Deepak Chopra like statements regarding free will from people like Sam Harris. https: //www. youtube. com/ watch?v=Jint5kjoy6I

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TOwNeuiX0bE.html

True, I’ve had discussions trying to convince people of determinism, and I wonder how people can refute it. It just goes against the illusion that we have of choosing actions that people cannot accept it, but logically determinism makes perfect sense.

Yes, and I've always wondered if we have free will to put our attention where we want? In other words, we can helplessly watch the mental algorithm unfold but is the witness to experience (whatever that is) able to freely decide to focus on one aspect or another of the contents of consciousness or is that decision part of the programming too? I recall an old Buddhist sage saying "You are free to put your awareness where you like."

@@counterculture10 there's no freedom to choose, but there's some freedom to be aware. Practicing meditation helped me become aware of thoughts i find myself in, but never as they begin, and the second you become aware, it's almost like the thought takes notice and disappears back into the shadows of the mind.

WRONG, the neurological studys hes disscussing prove NOTHING,ZERO,

rockhard Wow, solid argument! It's so good, it just stands there by itself. You don't even need to support it with anything! Amazing!

Consciousness is an illusion of an egocentric world view. How can someone who has the Budda as his profile pic be so ignorant to this basic notion. If you still believe there is a little you inside your head controlling your actions or that you have any sense on control in a world that is groundless and impossible to understand than you don't understand Buddhism at all. P.S. Mind does not equal Consciousness

To expand our consciousness and spiritual wisdom, we all need a great teacher.....................falun dafa

I saw what you did there.

I disagree. A high degree of anxiety might cause an ulcer to happen.

Unfortunately, there may be people who know their potential to be of harm to society is to a far lesser degree than society presumes. How does one prove they are no harm to society following an act of harm?

I am not a psychologist so I may be wrong, but presently, I see no way for a person to prove that they are not dangerous, especially if they have a history of violence. Probability is the best we can do given our current scientific knowledge.

But we do not torture the dog to punish it for being rabid. We should do the same with people.

Cleo Fierro Sorry, but 'i say so' is not a good argument. Especially given the large and increasing body of evidence against it. I realise that the abrahamic faiths need to believe in free will, to get their god off the hook for setting us up to fail in the imaginary garden of eden, but wanting it, does not make it so. What is true is already so. Owning up to it doesn't make it worse. Not being open about it doesn't make it go away. And because it's true, it is what is there to be interacted with. Anything untrue isn't there to be lived. People can stand what is true, for they are already enduring it. -Eugene Gendlin

Cleo Fierro I did add original content. You appear not to have responded to any of it. I recommend re reading my comment. If what Gendlin said was wrong, please show Where they are wrong, and why. Because i content that what Gendlin said was accurate. Whatever your thoughts about the world are, whether you have an accurate view of reality or not, there is a reality, and you are living in it. Step off a cliff, and you will fall, regardless of what you believe about gravity.

Can’t blame you, you did not CHOOSE to admire him

Life is all about karmic retribution.

We all have free will and God respects that gift and that is why He has permitted us to allow this planet to become demonic but no more, the Apocalypse is upon us................falundafa

You ppl are joking right ? If not You all need medical help ASAP

no? what should i believe?

am i going to get sick? please tell me

Sit back and witness your free will.