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Free Will Is Only an Illusion if You Are, Too
Free Will Is Only an Illusion if You Are, Too
Article by Alessandra Buccella & Tomas Dominik
Article by Alessandra Buccella & Tomas Dominik
As early as the 1960s, people have been conducting experiments on how neurological processes affect decision-making and consciousness. When volunteers were asked to perform simple movements whenever they wanted, a buildup in neural activity, called a "readiness potential" is detected, as many as 10 seconds before the person makes the decision. This may show, with science, that any belief in free will is bogus. If human behavior is predictable by what happens before the decision, this may mean that everything we choose to do is already determined.
"After all, if neuroscientists can infer the timing or choice of your movements long before you are consciously aware of your decision, perhaps people are merely puppets, pushed around by neural processes unfolding below the threshold of consciousness."
And Then There Were None
And Then There Were None
Novel by Agatha Christie
"Ten little soldier boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.
Nine little soldier boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.
Eight little soldier boys traveling in Devon;
One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.
Seven little soldier boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.
Six little soldier boys playing with a hive;
A bumble bee stung one and then there were five.
Five little soldier boys going in for law;
One got in Chancery and then there were four.
Four little soldier boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.
Three little soldier boys walking in the Zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were two.
Two little soldier boys sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up and then there was one.
One little soldier boy left all alone;
He went and hanged himself and then there were none.
Vera smiled. Of course! this was Soldier Island!" (33-34)
This is an old nursery rhyme the entire murder story is inspired by. The story tells a tale of how 10 strangers head to an island on vacation, known as Soldier Island. The group becomes familiar with each other, until all of a sudden, people start dropping dead in different, peculiar ways, matching the chilling lines of the nursery rhyme they were all doomed to follow.
This story plays into the idea of determinism and fate, and how everyone's doomed death is already planned out for them, with no way to escape. Everyone is aware of the innocent-sounding nursery rhyme framed in every guest's bedroom, yet in the end, there was no escaping their doom, written in those rhyming lines.
Paperman
Paperman
Short film by Disney
6:07-7:39
As the paper airplanes come to life, the man and the woman are brought back together again. The airplanes push the man and lead the woman back to where they met.
Supporting the idea of fate or destiny, the paper airplanes represent fate itself.
Even after the man stops trying to pursue the woman's attention while at work, the paper airplanes, or his fate, bring them together. This story supports the idea that there is no running away from the future that is predetermined for you. The woman and the man were destined to meet again.
The Alchemist
The Alchemist
Novel by Paulo Coelho
"It's what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is" (29 of pdf)
"...because there is one great truth on this planet: whoever
you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want
something, it’s because that desire originated in the soul of the
universe. It’s your mission on earth" (30 of pdf)
The idea of a personal legend in Coelho's The Alchemist is parallel to the idea of one's destiny -- the future one is meant to have and the result they are meant to achieve. The idea of one's Personal Legend is very prominent in Coelho's story and shows that all characters have a future they need to fulfill, already planned out for them, predetermined. The author also reveals, in a dialogue between the main character and the King of Salem, that all desires behind actions, behind things people want to do, have originated "in the soul of the universe", and that these actions are that person's mission in this world. This belief is adjacent to the idea of determinism, that everyone has a defined future, and all actions that will make in their lives have been predetermined by the universe, and it is their "mission" to perform them. The Alchemist shows how stories are used to provide the audience with the author's perspective on the question or idea, opening up a bigger picture when answering the question of free will.
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Play by William Shakespeare
"I fear, too early; for my mind misgives / Some consequence yet hanging in the stars" (Scene 1, scene 4, line 106)
"But he that hath the steerage of my course / Direct my sail!" (Scene 1, scene 4, Lines 112-113)
Romeo and Juliet is a classic example of the idea of fate, star-crossed lovers, etc. Romeo fears that there is a consequence for him "hanging in the stars". He also believes that he is not the one 'directing his sail', and that there is something else, namely fate, that controls his future. In the end, even after being warned of his fate, he and his lover Juliet die, both in tragic suicides. This story plays into the idea that fate, or one's determined future, is inevitable and that no one's choices are completely free. Romeo and Juliet is arguably one of the most famous stories or plays in history, the story showing how fate is unavoidable, even if morbid.
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