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RE: There Is No Such Thing As Free Will
FREE WILL by Sam Harris was a really good read. Id recommend it to everyone. I actually went to one of his debates at CalTech and got a signed copy.
FREE WILL by Sam Harris was a really good read. Id recommend it to everyone. I actually went to one of his debates at CalTech and got a signed copy.
what does it say? (in your own words)
I haven't read Sam Harris's book but I have heard him talk about free will.
He attacks it not only from a genetic and environmental standpoint, he claims you can observe your own lack of free will through mindfulness meditation. Right now you might be thinking, 'Oh man not this hippy stuff again' but give it a try.
Here is a short meditation exercise that will help you experience your lack of free will. All you have to do is try and focus on the sensations of your breath for 5 minutes. Anytime a thought pops into your head, let that thought go and refocus your attention on the sensations of your breath. You will notice that you can't stop these random thoughts from popping into your head even though you are trying to prevent them from coming in.
You might ask, 'well if I can't control them where did they come from?' I believe they come from your experiences (environment) and your genetic makeup. Thus, lack of free will.
I added a clip from the Joe Rogan Experience where Sam is talking about free will for almost an hour.
excellent. @cosmicfontaint check this one out
Sam Harris is also a savage in general! Enjoy.
oh wow. great argument..
I mean 'savage' in the best possible way. He is extremely articulate, he is smart and he cites a lot of science.
oh . my bad then :)
no problem man. it's tough out there for content creators! I should have clarified what I meant by that.
The internal dialogue can be stopped if you can't do it personally it doesn't mean no one can.
I do believe that some people can stop thoughts for a period of time through meditation, but I don't think the fact that some people can do this means that free will exists. I think uncontrolled thoughts is a single example that demonstrates our lack of free will.
Let's say that I mastered eliminating thought through meditation. What led me to that point that I could meditate enough to cancel out these thoughts? What factors in my life convinced me that eliminating my thoughts is something that I should strive for? What gave me the discipline necessary to sit down and meditate for long enough to eliminate these thoughts.
I believe it goes back to genetics and environment.
I know one painter and he told me that he can't start paint until he stops the internal dialogue. Sometimes i find that he don't even hear the surrounding sounds when he is at work. May be he is a genius.
I have heard of creatives doing this through meditation in order to be more efficient with what they do. I hope it is a skill I can acquire some day.
I have my own experience i find quite interesting. I have been working as an interpreter for about a week and half translating from english to russian, and from russian to english for about 9-10 hours a day. We were accepting the russian speaking patients. I won't tell all the story and will go to some interesting results. After 3 days of hard work i've realized that from the distance of 2 meters i was hearing russian speech as english and vice versa. If i were blind it would be hard for me to distinguish between russians and brits. Yes, it's weird. It turned out that same effect was experienced by all the interpreters from our group. The second strange and i must say pleasant effect is in that there is no any thoughts in your head when you're not speaking or translating. Just silence, complete and absolute silence inside. Brain doesn't understand what language should be used for thoughts))) I guess. The next weird thing is that you have consciousness, you do all the things consciously but without any verbalized thoughts inside. It's like you have thoughts and you haven't simultaneously. WEIRD but very very pleasant))) So what is consciousness? What the thought is? Would like to make some studies of such states.
P.s
I'm fully agree with the scientists that did the mentioned in the article study that we need about 20 years of thorough research before going into public with some bold statements.