From: mk_thisisit
The concept of free will is challenged by the idea that human behavior, including morality and ethics, is determined by biological factors and environmental interactions beyond individual control [00:00:03]. This perspective suggests that individuals are biological machines, extremely complicated, but still machines, whose values, intentions, and dreams are created by their biological history and environmental interactions [00:01:50], [00:01:59], [00:02:04].
Deterministic Nature of Behavior
Human behavior, whether considered good or bad, is seen as a result of a complex interplay of factors ranging from immediate brain activity, sensory stimuli, and hormone levels to events over months or years (trauma, falling in love, depression), developmental stages (puberty, childhood, fetal life), genes, culture, ecosystems, and the evolution of the species [00:03:41], [00:04:03], [00:04:15], [00:04:21], [00:04:24]. This combination of elements leaves no room for “freedom of action” or freedom from what happened before [00:04:44].
This biological determinism and human behavior means that extreme good and extreme evil depend on the environment rather than free will [00:03:09]. For example, racism, xenophobia, and extreme evil are viewed as outcomes of biology interacting with the environment [00:07:53].
Implications for Justice and Reward Systems
If free will does not exist, then blaming or punishing a person for their actions, or even praising and rewarding them, becomes senseless [00:00:10], [00:05:04], [00:05:12]. The idea that someone “deserved” something is considered untrue [00:05:18]. Criminals or saints are seen as the result of previous events over which they had no influence [00:05:30], [00:05:38].
Punishment, such as imprisonment, and meritocracy (like a CEO earning significantly more) are viewed as doubtful [00:05:47], [00:05:51]. Society must protect itself from dangerous individuals, but this does not require invoking free will or responsibility [00:06:32], [00:06:37]. An analogy is made with a car with faulty brakes: it’s dangerous and should be prevented from causing harm, but it doesn’t have an “evil soul” [00:06:42], [00:06:49]. People who cause harm are seen as having been harmed themselves and having no control over their condition [00:07:33].
IQ and Responsibility
Some legal systems, such as in certain U.S. states, prohibit the death penalty if a convicted person has an IQ below 70, implying they are not guilty because their brain was unable to distinguish good from evil [00:00:24], [00:09:31]. This highlights the recognition that a low IQ or a damaged brain affects one’s ability to control behavior [00:09:59], [00:10:07]. However, it is argued that while such cases make it easy to see the lack of control, the same principle applies to everyone due to billions of factors from a second ago to the beginning of life and beyond [00:10:14], [00:10:35], [00:10:41].
Environmental Factors and Outcomes
Environmental factors, such as maternal substance abuse during pregnancy leading to fetal alcohol syndrome, or growing up in poverty, profoundly impact brain development and behavioral control [00:11:25], [00:11:34], [00:12:44], [00:12:47], [00:25:25]. It is asserted that one can predict with high probability (95%) whether an individual will achieve success or end up in prison based on such early life circumstances [00:13:22].
Rejection of Quantum and Chaotic Explanations for Free Will
Attempts to link free will to quantum uncertainty or chaotic systems are dismissed. While quantum uncertainty is acknowledged as amazing, it is deemed mathematically impossible for quantum events to reach a sufficient level to affect the function of a single neuron, let alone a human brain with 80 billion neurons [00:27:11], [00:27:37], [00:28:04], [00:30:31]. Even if they could, it would result in random behavior, which is not what free will is typically understood to be (a moral compass leading to consistent behavior) [00:28:25], [00:28:44], [00:30:22].
Similarly, the Butterfly Effect and chaotic systems are described as deterministic, even if unpredictable. Unpredictability at certain levels of detail is not the same as a lack of determinism, and therefore chaos does not support the existence of free will [00:31:37], [00:32:00], [00:32:36], [00:42:11].
Historical Precedent for Shifting Understanding
History provides examples of humanity abandoning beliefs in free will or supernatural causes for phenomena, leading to a better world [00:35:08], [00:38:11], [00:38:19].
Examples include:
- Witches and Weather: People once believed witches controlled weather and burned old women at the stake after storms [00:35:11], [00:35:17]. Recognizing that humans have no agency over weather made the world happier [00:35:30], [00:35:44].
- Epilepsy: Epileptic seizures were once attributed to demonic possession or sleeping with Satan [00:35:50], [00:35:54]. Understanding it as a neurological disorder with a biological basis (like diabetes) led to treating individuals instead of persecuting them [00:36:01], [00:36:08].
- Dyslexia: Children with dyslexia were historically labeled stupid or lazy [00:37:11]. Recognizing it as a neurodevelopmental difficulty, where the brain works differently, allowed for more effective teaching methods and prevented children from internalizing negative self-beliefs [00:37:31], [00:37:42], [00:37:53].
- Slavery: Four hundred years ago, slavery was widely accepted, even considered “a good thing” by many in Western Europe [00:38:48], [00:38:51]. Today, every country has signed a treaty against slavery, demonstrating a shift in moral understanding based on recognizing inherent worth beyond perceived agency [00:39:02], [00:39:49], [00:40:06].
These examples illustrate that understanding human behavior as less dependent on conscious free will, and more on biological and environmental factors, has historically led to more compassionate and just societal systems [00:39:30], [00:39:35].
Human Consciousness and Other Species
Humans are considered “biological machines” that are aware of their nature, primates that know they will die, and mammals capable of feeling pain [00:02:44], [00:02:50]. While exceptionally complicated and interesting, humans are fundamentally made of the same ingredients as other life forms, from worms to monkeys and trees [00:20:36], [00:20:54].
Similarities at the cellular and genetic level are emphasized: a human neuron looks identical to a fly neuron under a microscope, and genes or enzymes can be transferred between species and still function [00:00:38], [00:21:00], [00:21:06], [00:21:10], [00:21:15]. The key difference lies in the sheer number of elements: for every neuron in a fly, humans have 100 million [00:22:31], [00:22:34]. This quantity leads to different qualities, such as the capacity for philosophy or opera, but it is still a matter of biological complexity, not independent agency [00:22:52], [00:23:08].
The relationship between free will and consciousness is deemed nonexistent; both conscious and unconscious actions are underpinned by the same biological mechanisms [00:32:54], [00:33:12]. While humans have a nervous system capable of consciousness that fish do not, the underlying behavioral mechanisms remain the same [00:33:27], [00:33:30], [00:33:33].