Comments on: Why Choice is an Illusion and Roots in Confusion

By: jaxsonlane

jaxsonlane — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 05:01:06 +0000

Choice? With what feels like an infinite number of possibilities buried in each passing moment, we look out from our vantage points and find ourselves swimming through an ocean of unknowns and unknowables. And, yet, it is from these (currently) 7 billion vantage points, our beautifully complex brains are able to participate in either peeling back the mysteries of time and space, or … conversely, the perversities of naked indulgence, all perched somewhere on this little blue space ship. None of us ‘chose’ our nascent minds, this world, this time, our families … or the laws of nature, the confines of gravity, the color of our skin, the strength or weakness of our bodies, our gender, etc etc …. on and on, and yet each one of these variables profoundly shape our perceptions, and I submit, our choices. Somehow (and perhaps mercifully so), we move about and through our lives with a sense of autonomy, that we are ‘free’ to choose all our options.

The classical relativists abhor the creator as a gamer, standing at a craps table. Einstein struggled with the duality of light, and also expressed an incoherence with determinism: “Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player.” … and then: “The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in all our actions. Our inner balance and even our existence depend on it. Our morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life.”

Einstein hungered to know the mind of God. Interestingly, it is in the ‘quanta’ that he derived, and was repulsed by, where indeterminism found it’s start. Some feel that within the quanta lives the ‘ghost in the machine’, where our abstract minds find freedom. I think this is more hope than understanding, because the mathematicians steeped in a lifelong pursuit of quantum mechanics are as confused by it as the laymen are, and as we can deduce from the quote above, the Alpha mechanic apparently was at direct odds with himself on the topic of determinism/choice.

Possibly, the complexities we are bathed in alone create the illusion of autonomy. As we move dimensionally, we’re at least able to look back at the perceived truths or confusions that ruled our lives and invariably, contradictions resolve, dualities unify, questions answer themselves. And, not surprisingly, new questions arise and new paradoxes emerge. We remember the evolution. Maybe patience is in order. We can not even formulate the questions, much less get the answers, until we embrace the subsequent dimensions. Hopefully, our species will survive to ’see’ more and deeper in to these realms … for certainly, it is the species that will move forward, or not. As individuals, we are a single vibration in the symphony of humanity. And humanity is a single voice in the life of the earth. And the earth is a tone in the song of the solar system. And our star system is a molecule in the life of the galaxy, and the galaxy is a quiver in the life of the universe. But, here we are, undeniably expressions of the universe in its totality. It took the universe to make us, and everything else too.

A question I enjoy toying with is: how different would an existence with autonomy be compared to one without? Would it be decipherable to us, as we are today? Would we be able to tell the difference?
I suspect not. So, choice or no choice, it’s an interesting ride.

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By: Luke Slisz

Luke Slisz — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:44:51 +0000

Yeah this doesn’t make any point towards the “Illusion of Choice,”
this merely specifies a natural reaction followed by a rational one.
If anything, this contradicts the idea of an illusion due to the rationality.

I think the argument you’re looking for, is because we’re products of our surroundings, our choices are determined by our experiences.

By: Mark Dobbie

Mark Dobbie — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 11:48:11 +0000

I just find the limitless boundaries of the mind so fascinating, reading articles like this totally inspires me to dig deeper into our resource rich mind.

By: PHaZter Maze

PHaZter Maze — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:00:43 +0000

So, I have no choice but to choose the choice that’s right for me? That’s all just a matter of conditioning, doncha think? We don’t decide what we’re exposed to as children, but it affects the devolpment of our subconscious minds when it’s in its most rapid developmental state. I like to think that there is an awakening taking place. People who question their system of beliefs. Renouncers born with the capacity to evaluate, redefine, and educate others about the ways in which we can attune physical reality with our imaginations. We must realize our goal, or we will live serving someone else’s. It’s not a matter of choice, it’s a matter of realization. Do you have the capacity to realize and evaluate the beliefs that rule your life? It’s extremely difficult for me when people absolutely refuse to. I can’t understand why people would choose to be ignorant, yet I see it soooo often. Maybe it’s just conditioning…

The worst that I could make is thinkin’ I’m awake.
Kiss the sun, touch the moon, shake my head of hate.
Feel the breeze, smell the leaves – heaven never has to wait
for all I have are happy thoughts with no room for debate.
I’ve gauked at God and flirted with fate.
Tinkered with time and usurped these updates
and now I riddle these rhymes, I’ve been called to create
better ways to find peace, yet still limit break.
So now I’ve come to reason with this species called man -
these neotonous creature with their holy thumbed hands
seek out a better leg to let their system stand
but I see the seasons as the ones supplyin’ their demands.
~PHaZe’

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 01:00:01 +0000

I agree that choice is an illusion. I have tried to find joy, happiness, forgiveness, ect. by doing all the wrong things, it is my (choice) right? No, if I want joy, it comes from doing things that bring joy and no other way, (no other choice) if I want happiness it comes from doing the things that bring happiness and no other way (no other choice) if I want forgiveness, it comes from doing the things that bring forgiveness (forgiving) and from no other way (choice). The great illusion of my world has been to seek these things in other ways (choices) I am learning there are none.

By: Regular Guy

Regular Guy — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 19:19:57 +0000

The pot fell on your head either because of an accident or intentional. If you don’t believe in accidents, you’re in denial, and probably have a subconscious (unchoosen) need for order and justice. How can you honestly believe that a hundred thousand people can die in a Tsunami, or a little girl can be raped, all because of Karma, or law of attraction? Wake up from your dream world. Plate techtonics, ring of fire, wave dynamics, some brain abnormality that compels a person to rape. Science!

By: vikas sharma

vikas sharma — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:07:12 +0000

Yes Thomas, you are right. there are people like Yogis, who can do amazing things. but they have a limit. and that vary limit produces the illusion that they have this choice.
if we look at small part of picture we can say that our life is our choice.
e.g. if i start practicing Yoga, then in x number of years, i will have this or that ability/power.
the point is why can’t i achive those abilities in 1 minute or 1 second?
It seems like someone else (may be our subconsious) is watching us, and if he likes he would allow us to achive something. he is allowing all the good and bad ideas, desires etc.
e.g. when we try to sleep he allows us to sleep, but sometimes he does not.

By: Thomas Herold

Thomas Herold — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:10:02 +0000

Actually you can control your heart beat. Yogis in India and Tibetan monks can do these things after long time of practice.

By: vikas sharma

vikas sharma — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 16:24:45 +0000

i agree that ‘Choice’ is an illusion.
We can not control involuntary processes like breathing, heart beat.
Our body is doing `things` without our choice at all.
There is a “Law of Attraction” (there is a movie on it “The Secrete”)
Then if flowerpot falls and slams onto my head,
Then according to law of attraction, I was attracting that flowerpot.
This was happening at subconscious level.
Conclusion is I am not choosing the pain caused by flowerpot, but my subconscious/body is.
Therefore there are 2 of me. One ‘me’ is at conscious level. And other ‘me’ is at subconscious level.
And it seems like the other ‘me’ can control fate.