My "go-to" attempt at theodicy for the problem of suffering and evil being allowed by a kind, just, and benevolent God has always been free will. I like to point out things like without pain, we would have no way to conceptualize pleasure, and without sorrow we could not truly appreciate joy. Likewise, some of my best evidence that the New Testament is true is that half of it was written by Paul, who persecuted and murdered Christians when he still called himself Saul. Few serious people question whether Paul was a real historical figure or that he went from being an executioner of Christians to ultimately become an early Christian martyr. However, I'm not the least bit afraid of challenging my own beliefs on a regular basis, and the question recently popped into my head: did God interfere with Saul's free will? Saul hadn't been looking for God -- in fact, he was actively searching for more Christians to murder when Jesus appeared on the road to Damascus and completely changed his life. Yet if it weren't for Paul, Christianity would not be what it is today. So, how do we solve this conundrum? Atheists like to argue for determinism, but if determinism is really true, how can we as a society justify putting criminals into prison if they have no choice except to rob, rape, and murder other people? That doesn't seem fair, if we really and truly cannot choose between right and wrong. My counterargument has been that without free will, humans would become slaves to their DNA and their environment. But if determinism is true and we really are slaves to our … [Read more...]
Characteristics of an intelligently designed world
Over 47 square miles in diameter and with more than 35,000 total employees, Disney World in Orlando can be described as a miniature, intelligently designed artificial world. The main thing this alternate reality lacks is free will. Nothing is free in Disney World. It costs about $90 just to walk through the security gates. A cheap plastic sword or plate of nachos are both $7. Mickey Mouse has many mouths to feed. One cannot help but marvel at the forethought and planning invested into this massive entertainment complex. There was a lot of hard work making the Magic Kingdom a magical experience for a young child. No one could possibly question that intelligent design was at work. Frankly, I wish I'd paid more attention in my Management Science class at UGA, so I might more fully appreciate the skill exhibited at queuing people in lines and shuttling them around to desired destinations. The temptation to walk serpentine still lingers, days after our return home. Disney elevated the basic amusement park experience to an art form. The variety and quality of transportation was very impressive. There are regular buses, shuttle buses, boats, moving sidewalks, and of course, the Monorail system. Disney knows how to attract customers as well as distributing them to their desired destinations. The attention to detail from Disney is unparalleled. Special accommodations have been made for handicapped customers on every ride. Even boat rides such as The Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, and It's a Small World have special boats outfitted to handle … [Read more...]
Jerry Coyne’s compatibilism quiz
While I’ve been waiting and hoping for Dr. Coyne to respond to my questions about speciation theory, I’ve periodically scanned his blog Why Evolution is True to see if the opportunity has arisen for him to answer my questions. I'm sure that Dr. Coyne is a very busy man, and he just hasn’t had time to respond thus far. Of course, he had to travel and give a lecture at Appalachian State, take pictures to show off his spiffy new ostrich boots, make several gratuitous attacks on creationism and religion with cheesy cartoons, and time to post lots of cat pictures on his blog. But no time for me yet. I’m sure he’ll get around to my questions, eventually. Apparently, he does respond to email. In the meantime, in one of the sixty-plus blogs posted since my letter, Dr. Coyne published a pop quiz on compatibilism. I love a good challenge, so I’ve taken his quiz. Perhaps he'll even grade my answers. Thank goodness that Dr. Coyne helpfully defined compatibilism as “free will that accepts material determinism.” I must confess that I didn't know the definition, and the closest dictionary didn't offer me one. Because I accept genetics, DNA, and the power of heredity, I can also accept the concept of material determinism, at least up to a point. However, I must reject the proposal that people can’t be held morally responsible for their actions. In fact, I find that suggestion both appalling and absurd. Is Ariel Castro, recently arrested in Cleveland for kidnapping three women and holding them captive for a decade, only guilty of committing egregious evil … [Read more...]
The Adjustment Bureau
SPOILER ALERT -- plot details are included. I freely admit that I'm not a huge fan of Matt Damon. I don't go out of my way to see his movies. Actually, the truth is that I rarely go out of my way to see anybody's movies. I do like his movies better than Ben Affleck's, for what its worth. After all, Damon didn't make Gigli. And he was decent enough playing amnesia victim/master assassin Jason Bourne in the series of movies with remarkably improbable plots, but killer action sequences. Casino Royale, which introduced the modern version of James Bond, would not have been nearly as good if The Bourne Identity hadn't inspired its director, Martin Campbell. On the other hand, all Damon did was say words other people wrote and pretend to be someone he isn't. My opinion of actors has been adversely affected by hearing them speak off camera, I do admit. Yet this weekend, I spent a couple of hours watching a Matt Damon movie I knew nothing about, The Adjustment Bureau. Mostly, I felt like watching a movie because my body hurt too much to do anything else, but that's another story. The timing was simply exquisite. I was still a little irritated that I recently spent time (and money) reading Sam Harris's book Free Will, which proved to be a monumental waste of my time, just as I had anticipated. I turned on the television and tuned in just as the movie was starting. I only missed a few minutes in the very beginning, and the opening credits. Big deal. It had been small consolation reading Free Will gave me an excuse to write something for my blog. I'm … [Read more...]
Mental masturbation
When someone goes out of his or her way to ask me to do something very specific, I usually try to accommodate them, especially if the request is reasonable. Though I've been quite busy editing the draft of my coming novel Secondhand Sight, my friend Sean made a point of asking me to read Free Will by Sam Harris. I protested that I was busy writing and editing my novel. Readers of my first Robert Mercer mystery, titled Coastal Empire, have been clamoring for the sequel, which won't come after Secondhand Sight. I don't want interest to wane, while I'm screwing around reading another writer's book. Sean persuaded me by countering that the Harris book was short, and an "easy read." So I splurged on Amazon, shelling out $3.99 for the Kindle edition. What a sucker I am! Oh, it was short, all right. And an easy read. But more importantly, the book proved to be an utter waste of my time and money. Love ya, Sean, but I should have just kept writing. Do not assume that I fail to appreciate Sam Harris as a writer. On the contrary, I thought his book The End of Faith was quite good, though I disagreed with most of his conclusions. It was quite brave of Harris to admit that he believes in a spiritual facet of the universe that inexplicably exists, but cannot be defined in conventional, scientific terms. The "Fourth Horseman" clearly departed from Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens, and Richard Dawkins on that point. Harris said he prefers the term "mysticism" to "spiritualism" to describe this phenomena he accepts, because he believes the latter term has more … [Read more...]
