Determinism is an illusion??

[r0ckyreed]

I have been contemplating a lot recently more than meditation.  I personally find it easier to contemplate than meditate, and I find more value in contemplating than meditating.

I have been contemplating solipsism, thoughts, origin of thoughts, time, free will, determinism, and randomness recently.  

The first video of Actualized.org's that I ever watched was "Free Will vs. Determinism."  I rewatched that video and it seems that the whole free will vs. determinism debate is not as simple as it seems.  Both of sides have their issues, and I felt that Leo came from a deterministic point of view in that video.  After watching Leo's later videos "Brains do not exist," "Consciousness," etc. I wonder if his stance has changed on the issue.

Here are some of the strengths and limitations of each of the theories that I have noticed:

Determinism

I realized that since time is an illusion and materialism is an illusion, that also means that determinism is also an illusion since determinism seems to assume that the Newtonian clockwork universe paradigm is true.  The thing determinism gets correct is that there is an order to reality.  However, what I think it gets wrong is that it assumes that everything can be predicted if we know the causes behind it (e.g., the first domino will knock down the second one, etc.).  Reality is more complex than this linear cause and effect process.  Determinism may exist in the relative domain, but may not be true in the absolute sense.

Free Will

Free will is an illusion only because it assumes that the ego is the one in control. In the Absolute sense, I have realized that God, the no-self, has free will.  However, free will seems to completely lose its meaning if there is no thing that is controlling something else, hence a duality between a subject controlling an object.

Randomness or Spontaneity

Randomness or spontaneity has been something of interest in my contemplations. When thinking about what thoughts are, their nature, and origin, I cannot help but notice that thoughts appear out of complete nowhere and are sometimes completely random and out of the blue.  Sometimes, I will sit in my room and meditate and I will have thoughts come to me completely randomly, out of the blue, with no external cause.  I also noticed that memories and events that we may have forgotten can come back to us in a seemingly spontaneous manner.  What randomness theory gets right seems to be that "things just happen" and appear spontaneously with no cause and effect.  What randomness theory seems to get wrong is that it assumes that everything in the universe is random and up to chance.  However, it seems to me that everything in the universe is absolutely ordered in the sense that what appears to be "chaos" or "randomness" is ordered and structured at a higher level of consciousness.  Maybe the thoughts that appear to be random are completely ordered or deterministic at a higher level?

Conclusion

All in all, I think all the theories seem to contain slivers of truth to them.  Thoughts happen spontaneously the relative level, but they are highly ordered at the Absolute level.  Determinism seems to assume in a clockwork universe.  If reality is a giant mind, then free will seems to be true at the absolute level but not at the relative level, since the ego is a mirage (e.g., The mind of God can think and imagine anything it wants, but the human mind cannot). 

What do you all think? Thank you!  

 

“ My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool; it gives me all the world and exiles me from it. ”

--- Ursula K. Le Guin

 

 

 

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by r0ckyreed

[Gesundheit2]

Nice move by avoiding the conventional free will framing in the title.

Anyway, knowledge is also an illusion.

[r0ckyreed]

Thank you! Determinism seems interesting. I guess it really depends on how you frame it!

I think this is a great scene from the movie Knowing! This is one of the reasons why I framed the question around determinism than free will. I am curious that since Life is Meaningless, then there is no purpose. If there is no purpose or meaning, then is there any order to anything? 

Yeah knowledge is an illusion in the same way I think free will is an illusion, which is that knowing implies an ego who knows. It implies a knower. 
 

It seems like that reality is ordered in such a way that it allows for some randomness in it. What is really order without chaos?