I like this point of view. Also because it reminds me of Douglas Adams with his "42" thing.
I like this point of view. Also because it reminds me of Douglas Adams with his "42" thing.
I think it's important because it affects how we treat each other. If there is no free will, Heaven and Hell make no sense and nobody is "evil". People like sociopaths who deliberately harm others for personal gain don't deserve to be punished. They deserve empathy like everyone else, becase if we had their genetic make-up and their life experiences, we would be sociopaths too. I believe people who commit crimes should be helped rather than punished, and that's partly because I don't believe in free will.
Maybe it's not as important as you say. Punishment is not for "evil" deeds, but is a way for our society to try and preserve itself regardless of moral connotations of an evil act. In this light IMO the primary intent of any law should be to better our society, and I agree with you that any action postulated by law should be to help. But a "punishment" like incarceration or a capital punishment (which I don't agree with but not because I believe in free will) aims to preserve humankind as a whole. The very nature of law as it is may be also an evolution of our societies since the inception of humankind, even if there's no free will. It may be our "destiny" to either succeed as a species or not (regardless of how insignificant our existence may be in the grand scheme of the universe and time), and free will does not really matter IMO.
No.
thanks for using Leebra!
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The question is underspecified. Why do you want to know if free will exists? What will you do differently if it does exist vs if it does not exist?
This is similar to questions like, "is water wet?" You can generate endless debate on the topic, but it's all intellectual masturbation until you are genuinely looking for the answer to a specific question.
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