The Birth of Physical Laws

Book Review: Free Will by Sam Harris

Well known atheist and New York Times bestselling author Sam Harris has authored a new book entitled Free Will that is dedicated to the proposition that free will is an illusion. The rationale is clear and compelling. It is a short monograph; the main content is about 70 pages followed by a section of references and endnotes.

Do we live in a deterministic universe? Is each future state of the universe determined absolutely by a prior state? Or is the opposite true? Can a certain state of the universe come into existence without absolute dependence on the constitution of a prior state? The key word is "absolute." If, for example, in any new state of the universe, a random element is introduced, then that state is not absolutely dependent on the prior state. This view of the universe is labeled as indeterminism.

The problem with the standard notion of free will is that it appears to be incompatible with either form of universe. Mr. Harris lays out the reasons for this very clearly. This understanding of free will is labeled as incompatibilism.

But, what exactly is the 'standard notion' of free will?  As Mr. Harris points out, the definition can vary and change over time from person to person.

Harris quotes Einstein:

Honestly, I cannot understand what people mean when they talk about the freedom of the human will. I have a feeling, for instance, that I will something or other; but what realtionship this has to freedom I cannot understand at all. I feel that I will to light my pipe and I do; but how can I connect this up with the idea of freedom? What is behind the act of willing to light the pipe? Another act of willing?

Einstein is not compelled to light the pipe.  If he were a robot, the lighting of the pipe would be part of the behavior 'detemined' by his programmer. So, when Einstein lights his pipe, who, or what, is doing the "determining?" 

NYU Professor of Philosophy Ned Block points out how in the face of incompatibility he decided to adopt a more restricted notion of free will. This position is labeled as compatiblism.

Tufts University Professor of Philosophy Daniel Dennett further refines a compatibilist view. We act because of reasons and further we share our reasons with one another. The concept of 'responsibility' is introduced as wearing its definition on its sleeve. We can be responsible to one another because we are capable of responding to one another.

University of Reading Professor of Philosophy Galen Strawson’s argument against free will is based on a definition of free will as the individuals being solely, ultimately, and singularly responsible for his decisions. Mr. Harris maintains similar positions throughout his book.


Must the notion of free will be glued to the notion of responsibility? Some theists propose that the answer is yes, implying that one is responsible to God, however this is a non-sequiter.  Free will can be a bona-fide subject of discussion in both created and non-created universes. The concept of free will, in and of itself, cannot be associated with a concept of responsibility, until one first defines the concept of free will and then answers the question: "To whom, if anyone, is one responsible?"  Free will can exist without regard to the asking or the answering of that question. 

All choices are constrained by the physical laws of the universe. For example, if one is starving and finds two bushes of berries, one red and the other blue, he must make a decision as to which one of them, if any, is safe to eat. He must eat, and his choices are restricted, but he is free to make a choice. This is absolute freedom in every sense of the word. He is not compelled by prior circumstances to choose red over blue or vice versa. He can flip a coin, or perhaps he can feed some of the berries to animals to observe their effect.

The ‘free’ in free will refers not to the quantity or quality of choices. It refers to the individual’s capacities to make a choice and to carry it out. If, in the example above, only red berries were found, the choice remained to eat no berries at all and to press on instead for more reliable food. Yes, death is the risk, but death is the risk of life itself.

Definition of Free Will

Free will is the collection of the following four capacities of a thinking agent:

1. The capacity to observe the present: Options exist out of which one or more can be chosen. 
2. The capacity to observe the past: To use ones memory in the evaluation of the current options. 
3. The capacity to conceive of the future: To predict the probable net effect on future states of the different choices that might be made.  
4. The capacity to carry out a selected choice.

The net effect of the possession of free will, in a deterministic or indeterministic universe, is to act in conjunction with the physical laws of the universe to determine, predict and cause the existence of a selected future state. The will of man thus becomes a physical law of the universe. In a non created universe, the physical laws of the universe have dictated that new physical laws will come into existence and we see them arise with each newborn child.  In a created universe we see the same thing and more, for we see our children as the continuous gifts of a loving creator who entrusts is with their care.

The autonomous thinkers of free will, be they atheist or be they theist, can reason together to create the rationale and the enactment that will ensure freedom of thought for all newborn children so that they can cause to exist a selected future state of world peace and the realization of an effort to spread the  human population across the universe. We are physical law of the universe, created or evolved, we can move the ancient mountains, in faith or in resolve.

Honor in the Court of Reason

Every man is honorable within his own high court of reason. He has all of the evidence, his testimony is unimpeachable, he knows the truth of the things that he has done. He sees himself as his own perfect witness, his own perfect prosecutor, how own perfect judge, and his own perfect jury.

If God does not exist, the honorable man can hope for the certainty of death. Thinking processes are ended, memories are dissolved, and he truly rests in peace. He can, before his time is up, make whatever improvements he can make in the world as partial reparations for what he sees as guilt.

If instead at death he finds himself in the arms of God, it is not her judgement that he fears. Those ones that he hurt in life, to whom he might have brought joy instead, did suffer at his hand and time cannot be unwound to make amends. A man who has caused pain to others at some times during his life, will himself ask God for the gates of hell. He will reject any offer of salvation. He will have judged himself as unworthy of living with decent people and he will seek his eternal punishment because there is no other way that he can see to repair what he has done.

And if this is you, yes you, the one reading, then after this contemplation, you will finally lift your head towards the face of God, in courage and in honor, to ask her for the justice of your punishment. And you will be astounded at her wisdom, the wisdom you see in her eyes when you find yourself at last within her vision, her contemplation of your being.

She knows the origin events; she sees what you can never see. She sees your conception and your evolution in the womb, she sees your birth and the perfection of the innocence of your youth. She sees your nature, that you were created as an autonomous thinker and that you are capable of doubting the truth of every word you hear and the meaning of everything you see. And she sees how you labored in your years of life in your constant state of not knowing the things you thought you should wish to know.

And then you learn that another witness must be heard there, in your own high court of reason. It is she who is your most perfect witness, she has seen the things you could not see. And she will stand as well, as an unrelenting friend, to your own high court of reason and she will make clear the paths to follow for your peace and you exoneration.

And one of these might be this very world, in the very state in which you left it. And you might see then that there is no other just punishment, you must be born again, in the world, and suffer under the consequences of what you did and what you failed to do. You are honorable within your own high court of reason.

She will offer this as a path to follow and if you are to accept it, you will once again be born, a newborn child, untroubled by your prior memories, capable of the greatest goodness, a precious gift to man. Yes you, you are given to the world of man, precious in the sight of God. We are given to each other, we can see this with our own eyes, we have never needed a prophet or a scripture to instruct us, we have had only to consider our response to God.

And even today, while you still live, you live as precious within her sight. And perhaps this is your second life, or your third or fourth on earth. And maybe now, you can decide, to create a world of peace for man.

You can see clearly now, that man is lost, we are as sheep without a shepherd. How is it that you will rise? What gentle things can you do, now that you are wise, to at last lead man to a world of peace? In your own high court of reason, if you could pay your debts, would the price be any less than this?

A 500 Year Plan

We are transforming our world to a place of peace by learning to raise our children to love one another.

The people of the world are beginning to rise and they are seeking to transform the world to a place of peace. They understand that atheists and theists must work together to make this happen. Theists and atheists are changing in many ways for this very purpose.

Theists are beginning to understand that God expresses no objection to atheism. While it is true that our Bibles, Qurans and other scriptures seem to hint otherwise, theists are beginning to question these conclusions.

Theists are beginning to understand that, If God truly exists, the overwhelming love of God for man is evident in the fact that God continues to give us children in spite of our sad history of raising them to mistrust or even hate each other.

Observing this love of God, theists are beginning to understand that God would never give a Bible, Quran or other book of scripture to man because he observes that we will emerge with separate interpretations and create our separate groups of religions that cause us to mistrust and fight with each other.

Instead of a book, theists are beginning to understand that God gave us our senses and thinking processes to observe the creation. Observing the creation, and the overwhelming love of God, theists can now see clearly that their ancestors were mistaken in many of the ideas expressed in the scriptures. If our ancestors do live on in an afterlife, and if they can observe our progress, theists are beginning to understand that our ancestors would have a source of anguish because they never intended for us, their descendants, to fear to question their opinions. They wish instead that we would fully examine their writings and make the corrections that they themselves are no longer able to make.

Theists understand now that it is the unquestioning belief in scripture that is preventing the theists and the atheists from transforming our world into a place of peace. They are now examining their scriptures, and comparing what their ancestors wrote to what they see with their own eyes.  They are carefully considering their long held beliefs and they are understanding how they must gradually adjust so that they can truly begin to raise their children to love all of the children of God.  They understand that this is not an overnight process.  Some of them take great comfort in their current belief system and with good reason find that they should not change what they believe, sometimes because of an inescapable fear of condemnation and for these people it is up to the rest of us to allow them their beliefs while making improvements for the younger generations.

Form this we can all see that this process will require a continuous collaboration of the generations of man.  This positive work begins in this generation, the generation of 2012. Our children will carry it forward.  Some of them will continue to fall into the traps of unquestioning belief in the opinions of their ancestors but as each generation passes, more and more of the children of God will be transitioning to more rational belief systems that are designed to enable all of man to work together to at least build a beautiful world of peace.

The theists and the atheists will be working together to make this happen. How can the theists begin to trust the atheists? The theists can see that the atheists are changing too.

Atheists are beginning to understand that if they can make a full commitment to a plan for transforming the world to a place of peace, then the theists themselves would be encouraging them to take leadership roles in governments throughout the world. The theists understand that atheists who think and act with reason and logic toward a global state of peace and equality will have an important role to play in any viable plan.

The atheists understand that the theists perhaps have the most critical role, because it is the theists who must begin the great adjustment to the beliefs passed on to them by their ancestors and to begin to raise their children, not in slavish belief in written opinion, but in knowledge and in love.

So a clear foundation for mutual trust between theists and atheists is reachable by beginning the work to create a generational-spanning plan to transform the world to a place of peace. This writer considers that it will take 500 years of gradual generational improvements in the education of each new generation of children as well as gradual improvements in the governments of man but this is just a starting point for discussion. It could take less or more time than that.

The discussions are just beginning. What is your opinion?