How do we know what we think we know? Could our senses be deceived?

At this point, the wind started to pick up, and I flew out of the window. I was a little bit disoriented, and tried to figure out which direction I was going in.After a few minutes, it became clear that I was going north, back to San Francisco. When I finally reached the city, my momentum began to run parallel to that oaf car which was directly below me. As one could expect, the car grew wings, and I gently fell through the car’s roof, into the back seat. Next to me was an inanimate iguana which was not-so-affectionately named"Satan."

Must we worship the devil?

And the fruit of life hung out of his ears. They began to speak:

Do not challenge us; we are inevitable.
Do not question our values; they work themselves out.
Please be advised: Heisenberg’s Uncertainty principle applies.
Seventy seven transsexual youth couldn’t stop it from happening. Don’t kid yourself into believing.

She lay in bed. It was all a dream. But the world still fell out under her when she got out of bed ready for another bleak day.

I don’t care about them, they don’t seem to care about
me, isolation is not a consolation, when blood streaks
over my eyes. They left the room and went out with
style, I couldn’t catch up over miles.

I’m alone, floating through space, a lit anchor across
the way, of 10^50 shards of glass, I don’t think I’ll
make it to the other side…

They all suffer, and I can’t explain why, I can’t
neutralize it like everything else…

She dropped her necklace on the stairs, I stepped on
it with Newtons of force cracking the glass, I didn’t
care, I’ll crawl into a hole and die.

Should one have a peach, or a piece of chocolate cake?The uncontrollable factors are not limited to theitems being offered. The response to this choice isalso determined by an individual^Òs personal taste infood, how they prioritize health, and how value thepresent against the future. Life experience andgenetics control these personal factors. Withsophisticated instruments, perhaps we could evendiscover exactly how these factors influence adecision.

But what of the randomness of the sub-atomic world ofquantum physics? At the most basic level, particles donot follow normal physical law. Instead, certainthings happen without definite reason. Surely one mustconsider it an argument against determinism.Proponents of free will would say that thisuncertainty leaves room for true choice. There isdisagreement about whether or not what we perceive tobe random is not determined. Somewould say that it is just part of a largerpredetermined pattern which cannot be observed by merehumans. If this were true, there would be absolutelyno room for free will.

However, let us assume that there is true randomnessinvolved in the workings of the universe. Some wouldargue that the randomness^Ò is actually our will powerat work. They think that the deviation from Newtonianmechanics is where our humanity lies. I would like topoint out that despite the fact that free will inquantum mechanics is a possibility, it may very wellbe untrue anyway. Perhaps randomness is simply what itappears to be: randomness. Let us return to the choicebetween the peach and the cake. Would there be morefree will involved if there was a random, 1:2 chancethat the peach would be chosen? The inevitable answerto this question is ^Ñno^Ò. True, complete randomness isno more conducive to free will than determinism.

There still exists the possibility that therandomness is our free will at work. I must offer thefollowing argument: wouldn^Òt well informed, rationalpeople with “free will” always make the right choice(consequently lacking free will anyway)? That is, ifsomeone makes a choice with valid reason, the choiceis ^Ñright.^Ò A path of valid reasoning will alwaysyield the same conclusion. If someone makes a choicewith invalid reasons, chances are, the choice is^Ñwrong.^Ò However, one cannot be blamed for making achoice with invalid reasons. Holding one responsiblefor faulty logic is equivalent to holding oneresponsible for bad math skills. Are there otherpossible explanations for decisions? We may againrefer to quantum physics; perhaps some actions have nocause. We cannot conceive of holding one responsiblefor an decision that has no cause.

Now we have three possible explanations for behavior,valid reasons, invalid reasons, and randomness. Onedoes not choose to be influenced invalid reasons orrandomness. In order for someone to make a choice,they have to have more than one option. If one doesnot have control over whether or not their choices areinfluenced by invalid reasons or randomness, theycannot have control over whether or not their choicesare made by valid reasons.

A strong argument for free will is that it seemsintuitive. We feel as though we have it. My defenseagainst this claim is that intuitive belief in freewill is necessary for survival. Humans would not havesurvived natural selection without feeling as thoughthey were free. We need to feel free in order tobehave in certain positive ways. We need not actuallybe free. Feeling free and being free are two verydifferent things. In this instance, biased humanintuition cannot yield true results with certainty.

Since we must act as though people are responsible, wemust set rules for action. Even though people are notresponsible for their actions, in figuring blame incertain cases, we must use the current popularconception of free will. The idea of ^Ñchoosing^Ò tobehave in certain ways certainly sounds strange if oneassumes lack of free will. This paradox is hard toreconcile from a human perspective. Nevertheless, Ican appeal to my above statement: we areevolutionarily demanded to feel as though we have freewill, even if we don^Òt. Given that it is natural tofeel as though we have free will, it only makes senseto speak as though we do. In reality, we may oftenbehave as though we have free will; to satisfy naturalinclinations, and to behave in ways that are conduciveto better future behavior. Only in certain situations,such as those in which retributive punishment is beingargued must we remember our lack of free will. In thismanner, we can act morally.

Great image of success
Dont exclude me from your lonely and boring games
I wouldnt dare to raise my voice to express myinternal outrage,
lest you strike me down,
down to the sewer where the other rebelliouscharacters lie.
The five secretaries pool their money on Friday andbuy lottery tickets,
after all, THEY dont want to be the ones who have tospend the last 20 years of their lives filing morepapers.

The athlete with the wonderful smile and alcoholicfather.

The great student who plays piano beautifullyalso lives in fear of the repetition of rape.
Not physical, that would only leave a strongimpression for a few years.
Instead she fears the more fundamental type, theforcing of ideas onto her.She knows that its happened already.

There’s always the one in the back of the room.
You see the expression on his face and think:
maybe he’d be happier dead.
Who wouldn’t after living alone?

“Who’s seeing you at all? Who’s seeing you at all?”
—Belle and Sebastian “Ease Your Feet Into the Sea”

One day you’ll wake up mourning, and you’ll realize,
it’s fine
Not today.

When the tear dries, the darkness fades away, and I
will be listening to poppy music. Finally finding an
escape.
(Note to future self: Use this to get the things
“you’ve wanted since wearing glitter badges.” But just
remember what it means.)