Is Science Showing That We Do Not Have Free Will?
see video
I removed the embedded video because it automatically runs and I couldn't figure out how to fix that.
Is Science Showing That We Do Not Have Free Will? - Daniel Dennett - University of Edinburgh
My Dharma Brother and teacher in the Boundless Way Sangha, Jay Risen Weik posted this video on Facebook and although it is long I watched it all the way through. This is a public lecture by Daniel C. Dennett, Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University, entitled "Is Science Showing That We Don't Have Free Will?" In his lecture, Professor Daniel Dennett discusses some of the current work in psychology bearing on this question. He also drew on Hume, Darwin and Turing, three Enlightenment heroes. The lecture was part of the University of Edinburgh's Enlightenment Lecture Series.
The reason this post caught my interest was an experience I had with Zen Master Seung Sahn in a private interview back in about 1992. I have spoken often about this particular interview and even posed Zen Master Seung Sahn's comments to many of the other teachers in the Kwan Um School of Zen, many of the comments I received were less than satisfying. Apparently, he hadn't made this particular statement to very many people so they weren't sure how to respond.
I don't remember the particular Koan I was working on at the time, but I had a question about it and honestly I wish I remember what question I asked him at the time; but his response really shocked me at the time and I was really confused. Anyway, his response to my question was "You don't understand! You have no choice!" I remember thinking, "WHAT? This isn't Zen Buddhism." So I said to him, "Did you just tell me that I have no choice?" Daesonsa-nim said, "Yes, everything is already determined and you have no choice."
This confused the shit out of me, so I said to him "That sounds like Catholic Determinism, are you telling me that everything is already determined?" He said "You don't understand, so you are confused." I asked him to please explain it to me and he said "Look, everything is already determined, and you have no choice. And until you realize that you have no choice, only then do you get a choice." At this point I bowed to him and thanked him for the interview and frankly I wasn't sure what it meant. His statement became a huatou for me and I sat with it for a very long time, and eventually I digested his comment. I believe that this is what Daniel Dennett is trying to say in this very in depth and lengthy lecture.
Listening to Daniel Dennett is much like reading Nagarjuna and his approach to the Dharma. I believe that Seung Sahn was correct in his statement and that the truth is dynamic and ineffable. Thanks again Jay for the post, it took me back to a time and a place as well as grounding me in this very moment.
I removed the embedded video because it automatically runs and I couldn't figure out how to fix that.
Is Science Showing That We Do Not Have Free Will? - Daniel Dennett - University of Edinburgh
My Dharma Brother and teacher in the Boundless Way Sangha, Jay Risen Weik posted this video on Facebook and although it is long I watched it all the way through. This is a public lecture by Daniel C. Dennett, Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University, entitled "Is Science Showing That We Don't Have Free Will?" In his lecture, Professor Daniel Dennett discusses some of the current work in psychology bearing on this question. He also drew on Hume, Darwin and Turing, three Enlightenment heroes. The lecture was part of the University of Edinburgh's Enlightenment Lecture Series.
The reason this post caught my interest was an experience I had with Zen Master Seung Sahn in a private interview back in about 1992. I have spoken often about this particular interview and even posed Zen Master Seung Sahn's comments to many of the other teachers in the Kwan Um School of Zen, many of the comments I received were less than satisfying. Apparently, he hadn't made this particular statement to very many people so they weren't sure how to respond.
I don't remember the particular Koan I was working on at the time, but I had a question about it and honestly I wish I remember what question I asked him at the time; but his response really shocked me at the time and I was really confused. Anyway, his response to my question was "You don't understand! You have no choice!" I remember thinking, "WHAT? This isn't Zen Buddhism." So I said to him, "Did you just tell me that I have no choice?" Daesonsa-nim said, "Yes, everything is already determined and you have no choice."
This confused the shit out of me, so I said to him "That sounds like Catholic Determinism, are you telling me that everything is already determined?" He said "You don't understand, so you are confused." I asked him to please explain it to me and he said "Look, everything is already determined, and you have no choice. And until you realize that you have no choice, only then do you get a choice." At this point I bowed to him and thanked him for the interview and frankly I wasn't sure what it meant. His statement became a huatou for me and I sat with it for a very long time, and eventually I digested his comment. I believe that this is what Daniel Dennett is trying to say in this very in depth and lengthy lecture.
Listening to Daniel Dennett is much like reading Nagarjuna and his approach to the Dharma. I believe that Seung Sahn was correct in his statement and that the truth is dynamic and ineffable. Thanks again Jay for the post, it took me back to a time and a place as well as grounding me in this very moment.
posted by Wonji Dharma at
March 18, 2010
7 Comments:
How is it possible that everything is already determined when nothing actually exists?
But he is also right. I just like to believe that I'm actually calling the shots, when in fact I'm not.
I've come to a place where I believe that in the conventional sense we have free will, but in the ultimate sense I am a hard determinist. It just makes sense to me. Like it or not, at some point the universe is going to entropy out... just the laws of nature, and there ain't nothing we can do to change it.
In the Zen sense I've heard teachers say that all of the past and all of the future is wrapped up in this very moment... it can only be this and nothing else.
Anyways, I know that was as clear as mud to some, but it made perfect sense to me.
Great post and thanks for sharing the video.
Reminds me of when I read Spinoza's Ethics for the first time.
I don't even know what "free-will" means anyway.
If 0 is pure determinism, and 1 is pure choice - we know that 1 is not an option.... our choices are conditioned by so many different factors that in no sense can it truly be called "free."
Eh. Maku Mozo!
Thank you for this video! I have to find some time to watch it.
"You have no choice!" I love it! Seung Sahn was awesome.
Bows,
U
I also believe we have no choice. Notice that thought just popped into head that I have no choice. Did I choose to have that thought? No. Thoughts and emotions are like weather, moving in and out without our permission. In the next moment the thought may arise that I am free to choose. Maybe true liberation is nothing more than being liberated from believing our thoughts. Maybe...
I also believe we have no choice. Notice that thought just popped into head that I have no choice. Did I choose to have that thought? No. Thoughts and emotions are like weather, moving in and out without our permission. In the next moment the thought may arise that I am free to choose. Maybe true liberation is nothing more than being liberated from believing our thoughts. Maybe...
Greetings! I came across this and thought it was interesting.
Part of the problem I see with the idea of “Free Will” is it’s such a platitude – it’s a bit like saying, “Truth is good!” OK, sure, truth is good, and the will is free, great.
I’d ask the question; does a flower raise its head to the sun everyday because of a process known as photosynthesis, or does it do it because it likes to? Is one explanation better then the other, or get us closer to reality? Or are they just different interpretations that serve a different purpose?
My suggestion with respect to determinism, is to be careful not to get locked into a sort of Platonist reductionism; in other words the whole idea that the purpose of language is to break past appearances to get to reality (you know, don’t mistake the finger for the moon). If we rather take the approach that words are utilitarian in nature, (or metaphorical, as perhaps that’s the better word) we can see that reinterpretation or different language games simply serve as tools for different purposes.
So do we have free will, or are things deterministic? Yes!
One shouldn't turn the idea of free will into a metaphysic any more then we should turn the idea that "truth transcends language" into one. I think it's better to say, "We simply find no more use in these old metaphors." then it is to say, "The old ways of thinking, as it turns out, were wrong."
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