anti-choice determinist: Recent Episodes
Chandler Klebs
This podcast is my own exploration and explanation of how different life issues such as abortion, suicide, war, and capital punishment might be different with the understanding that we don't have a free will.
George's two step refutation is the shortest way of explaining why we cannot take credit or blame for our actions.
"For we who appreciate speedily arriving at the heart of a matter, here’s how to disprove any free will argument in two easy steps: 1. Ask the free will believer to give an example of a choice they consider to be freely willed. 2. Ask the free will believer to say whether or not that choice was caused. Congratulations; you’ve just won! If the free will believer says the choice was caused, the ensuing causal regression makes free will impossible. If the free will believer says the choice was uncaused, the choice cannot rationally be attributed to a human will. You can easily apply this two-step refutation to any, and all, free will arguments."
You can find this and more in George Ortega's book: "Exploring the Illusion of Free Will".
http://amzn.com/B00DINW91Y
George was originally the guy who explained why free will is impossible in a way I could understand. Check out his website for more information.
http://causalconsciousness.com/
I start out this episode by reading some relevant things from George Ortega's book: "Exploring the Illusion of Free Will".
http://amzn.com/B00DINW91Y
George was originally the guy who explained why free will is impossible in a way I could understand. Check out his website for more information.
http://causalconsciousness.com/
I am attempting to explain the connection between the belief in Free Will and the denial it is causing about other subjects like Abortion and animal suffering.
I also posted a facebook note called "Free Will and Abortion Denial". I am hoping to publish it as another book but even if I do, I want it to be freely available with no restrictions to read online.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/10152982881584326/
Do you think I am right in my theory that abortions will be reduced in a world where people understand the causes of things and make a better world?
Why is abortion such a bad thing?
Just as people are ignorant of the many causes that lead them to do what they do, I believe many of them are also ignorant of the effect it has on a society when murder becomes legal. I have talked about the truth of determinism and the falsehood of free will in the first 20 episodes of this show. Now it is time to get back to the subject of abortion specifically because it was the cause for this show. If it had not been for my anti-abortion activism, I might never have gotten into the topic of free will.
That being said, I will not abandon the free will topic because it has been proven to have greater relevance than any other debate. The reason for this is that all debates are really under the umbrella of the illusion of "choice". Other topics such as the existence of god, gay marriage, gun control, and yes, even abortion are only solvable once someone understands determinism.
Why do you think all the debates continue? The answer is more obvious than you might think. People can't simply choose to all agree on them! They can't even compromise about topics that are essential to their worldview.
In this episode, I talk about death, graveyards, tombstones, and what I want done with my organs after I am dead. I also explain all the causes that led to my beliefs about death and why it is the end of existence.
In this episode, I read what is perhaps one of the creepiest stories in the bible. The story where Jesus kills a herd of pigs by sending demons into them.
Matthew 8:28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. 29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? 30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. 32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine:and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. 33 And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. 34 And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus:and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.
The main thing to understand about this story is that if you believe in "devils" which are capable of "possessing" and controlling the actions of a human or pigs, then you have no way of saying that we have free will and are in control of what we do.
Similar, but not identical stories are told in Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:26-39. In those stories, it is just one man possessed of devils. In either case, Jesus allowed the devils to go into the pigs which caused them to run off and drown.
Free will is still impossible for an atheist because of determinism, but this story provides an extra example from the bible of something supernatural that if it existed would cause us to do things we don't want to do. So while I don't think this story ever happened, it is something that Christian fundamentalists have to take seriously. If you believe this, then you have to also accept that Jesus had authority over the devils and gave permission for them to enter the pigs. Basically, this implies that Jesus and the devils are pig murderers. No animal rights activist will like this story.
Also, for the christian carnivores who think pigs exist only to be killed and eaten, remember that eating swine is forbidden in Leviticus 11:7 and Deuteronomy 14:8.
If you go back to episode 10, you can hear what I think of God changing the languages of the humans in Genesis 11. How is it that people can claim to believe the stories in the bible and yet still think we are able to freely choose?
This episode is mostly just my rant about what I think of Christmas traditions. The variety of traditions people have cause them to do things around christmas that they would never do otherwise. It shows just how robotic humans are and how unfree their wills are. There are most certainly causes for the different beliefs and traditions associated with christmas, but most people don't have a clue what they are.
More importantly though, why do parents lie to their kids about Santa Claus? Don't they see the negative effects that result from it later in their child's life?
I think that the belief in an afterlife is sometimes harmful when it comes with the belief that we must "earn" an afterlife and that somehow we deserve reward or punishment for our actions. This relies heavily on free will belief but at the same time refutes it.
If someone is compelled to do something in this life because of their belief that it affects their next life, is this not an example of something they are forced to do our of fear or their trust in a promise of a reward? The point is that afterlife belief is a cause of other beliefs and actions. This is why it is relevant for me to know what others believe and why.
I have many reasons for not believing that there is a self/soul/spirit that survives death. Because of this, my actions are instead based on how they affect me and others now and in the future on this planet.
Trick Slattery commented on one of my facebook posts and gave me some thought experiments. In this episode, I read and respond to them and then talk some more about why I am against abortion.
Experiment #1:
Imagine, if you will, a world where 50% of pregnancies ended with a baby never being born, but rather a fetus (at month two) that stays that same size and development, in it's unconscious state, and feeds off of the mother in the womb for the entirety of the mother's life...causing a permanent pregnant state in the mother, preventing any births of another child while there, causing hormone changes in the mother, the inability to work at times, labor pains, and so on for the rest of the mothers life. Would it be an obligation of the mother to carry that fetus their entire life so that it can live? Would it be discrimination for the mother to remove the fetus? How about if the mother wants a child but cannot while that particular fetus is there? Is that a sacrifice she will just have to live with? Will she just have to sacrifice living in a perpetual pregnant state for the rest of her life, reducing the quality of her life and health dramatically?
Experiment #2:
Imagine we live in a word where their are alien pods that sometimes produce a substance in the air. It's known that walking outside their is a 1% chance that some of the pod substance will attach to your head and start producing an alien on your head. Once it's attached and starts to form, if you remove it the alien is sure to die (as it needs to be attached to you to live). The alien will eventually form to a 10 pound creature that is permanently attached to your head. Any attempts to remove it will instantaneously kill the alien. The alien attached to your head starts as an unconscious pile of cells that after a few years eventually has the mental capacity of a really dumb 1 year old child. It constantly drools, poos and pees on you (and tears apart any diapers you try to put on it), is constantly yelling, crying, or making noise, and pretty much makes your life a living hell. It never gets more intelligent than this. We know this will happen if you are unlucky enough to get some pod substance on you. Are you obligated to let this alien grow on your head, and live there the rest of your life? Is it okay for you to remove it when it's just a bunch of unconscious cells and hasn't formed a consciousness yet?
Not having a free will does not mean that we don't have social constructs of responsibility, standards, expectations, obligations, duties, agreements, or contracts. The fact that we can expect things of people at all is another example of determinism.
What it does mean is that these expectations are all forced upon us just like our existence and that we cannot logically credit or blame people for their conformity to what we expect. This is important for us to understand to reduce hatred and violence. I feel an obligation to act in a way that I believe is the most moral way. Since my will is to create a happier world, I cannot stay silent about what I think will lead to that outcome.
If I am the only one who can say or do something, doesn't that obligate me to do it?
A facebook friend asked me what I think should be done in the criminal justice system and what I think of the death penalty. Some things will obviously have to change in the way we think about criminals. We can try to separate and reform them. We just can't hate them or believe that they deserve to die.
In this episode I read from Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary. He had much to say about it. The truth that we are machines is so difficult for most people to accept. When you look at the machines such as computers, phone, cars, airplanes and others that humans depend on, you will be glad that they don't have a free will. We expect machines to do their job reliably and deterministically. While humans are machines, they are far less reliable or predictable than machines built by humans. This is only because we don't understand all the causes of what they do. We are machines assembled by more causes than we can fully know.
What is the difference between morality and legality? Are they the same or different? Do our beliefs about what is moral tell us what should be legal? Or do our ideas of what is moral come from what is legal? These are big questions and I would like to know what everyone thinks about them.
In this episode I read a page from George Ortega's book: Exploring the Illusion of Free Will. A search for his name on google books will help you find where you can download the PDF file.
After that I talked about how I got into the subject of free will and how I originally discovered his work after he commented on one of my videos.
George Ortega has spent a lot of time refuting free will. His website is full of information and links to what people are saying about free will and determinism.
http://causalconsciousness.com/
In this episode I read the following story from the book of Genesis and talk about how the story presents a supernatural problem if it was true.
"1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do:and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth:and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth:and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth." - "Genesis 11:1-9 KJV
The Christians do not agree on whether their god is in control or whether we have a free will. Since we don't actually have a free will, then the confusion has only two explanations that make sense to me. Either this god is the source of the confusion and is controlling our brains, or this god doesn't exist in the first place to set the record straight on what is true and which religion is correct.
If god is controlling our brains and can replace even the language we speak, then god must certainly also be the cause of people not believing that god exists anymore.
In this episode, I talk about how I was forced to stop eating meat in order to be consistently pro-life. To say that one species should live while another must die is unacceptable to me. There are enough vegetarians in the world to prove that most of us can survive without eating meat if we have the right foods available.
Listen to what happens when talking with defenders of free will. If they have a reason for believing in free will, it shows that it was not their choice to believe in free will. It is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. At the same time, it is tragic that people are unable to understand why free will is an illusion and how knowing it can help their lives.
I think that future generations will understand determinism and live much more peacefully than we do now. Knowing the truth almost always leads to us making better choices which are also not in our control! We don't decide what the truth is, we only discover it and act according to our beliefs. Our ideas either change or die depending on how they help us survive. Because of this, I think there could come a time when all people are generally united and won't be fighting over religion and politics.
Free will is a harmful belief and this is the reason for convincing others that it is false.
In this episode, I read some parts from the beginning of the first book I published. The main point of this episode is that none of the things written in the book are original thoughts at all. My mind was a strange combination of christian teachings that were conflicting with the way sex, dating, and marriage were viewed by american society.
Free will is of course impossible no matter whether christianity is true or not. However, since christians promote free will, I am having fun talking about how omnipotence and omniscience make free will sound even crazier than it does to an atheist.
Either god is in control or he is not. If God is not in control, who is? It certainly isn't us since we don't choose free from causality. If god is in control of all that happens, then no doubt god is the most successful murderer and rapist. The problem of evil as an argument against the existence(or at least the benevolence) of this god is the strongest cause for people deconverting from christianity.
Chess is one of the most predictable deterministic games there is. Strict rules force players to move in certain ways. Some people are naturally better at playing chess because they have a better capacity to guess what their opponent might do. This is almost like mind reading, but is actually an understanding of the rules and what someone "should" do if they are trying to win.
I enjoy playing chess but at the same time I am not really competitive. I think people benefit from learning how to play chess. It is fun and also a way of understanding how other people think.
I am tired of people believing that people who commit suicide are selfish and deserve hell. Understanding that there is a cause for everything makes suicide and homicide almost identical. In either case someone is dying. The only difference is that the causes of suicide such as depression are misunderstood. If the pain someone is experiencing can be removed, they will no longer want to end their life.
The worst part is that the dead cannot talk and tell us what happened. Sometimes though there are clues that help us predict suicide before it happens. Sometimes they even tell people why they don't want to go on living. As we get over the free will belief, we may be more helpful to those who need help rather than blame them for their feelings.
Abortion is the main reason that I got into the subject of free will vs. determinism. I came to a conclusion that if free will existed, then it makes little sense to debate about abortion.
If people had a free will, then they would just do whatever they do free from all causality. In addition, I could not cause them to reconsider their position on abortion, or any other topic. In a world with free will, people could choose to change their own desires, but they would have no reason or cause for changing their desires.
But since determinism/causality rules everything, such illusions as free will are disproven, but are still believed because people don't define what kind of "freedom" they mean by "free". You can try to define free will in a way that nobody actually believes, but all you are doing is playing word games.
I think that understanding determinism will automatically reduce hatred and violence. No good effect can come from hating people and seeking revenge against them. In the case of abortion, people are killing babies who have done nothing. This makes little sense even if you do believe in free will, but under determinism, it makes even less sense.
The concept that we don't choose anything including our gender, skin color, sexual orientation or species means that we cannot pretend we are better than someone else. My mom came home earlier than I expected and so the last point I was making got messed up. The theme of the show is that I can't choose anything. The interruptions of the train and my mom are good examples of things totally outside my control. Next show I plan to talk about morality and how it is different under determinism than it would be under free will.
This first episode should be enough to define and refute what people usually mean when they talk about free will. I explain in this video a bunch of things that make our will not "free". Future episodes will cover more about the harm that comes from believing we freely choose things.
Anti-choice was meant to be an insult that pro-choicers throw at people who are against abortion. When me it is accurate in more than one way. This show is meant to cover everything about what choice is especially under the context of "free will". Our delusion that we are the author of our choices is causing a lot of harm and this needs to be explained.