According to Neal Stephenson, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz once said “[there are] two great labyrinths into which the human mind is drawn: one is the question of free will versus predestination, and the other is the nature of the divine ether”
Addressing the first question at least, like many pairs of opposites, both free will and predestination are manifestations or imperfect perceptions of a greater whole, encompassing both. We clearly have an internal perception of the ability to choose our actions, and thus an implied responsibility for the consequences of those actions or lack thereof. At the same time, our observations of the world around us lead us to believe that the more perfect our understanding of the cosmic mechanisms and the more complete our knowledge of the state of the universe, the more successfully we might predict subsequent states into the indefinite future.
Neither and both cases hold. We may choose to act, but our choices are driven by a complex of motivations and thought processes and environmental factors we only dimly comprehend. We are actors in a play, but we are also the playwright, and sometimes the audience and critic as well. Contemplating consciousness is like the tip of a finger trying to point at itself. Its comical, really, when you think about it.
Or, consider: our perception of our own free will is like our perception that the sun is moving through the sky. Is it? It depends on your point of view.
Our consciousness is a point of light riding on a wave of potentiality in a hyperdimensional space which we are incapable of comprehending, at least thus far.
Reality exists outside our consciousness, if only in a potential, unrealized state (unrealized at least from the perspective of our own limited mentality and perception).
But its not all just idle speculation. It matters. Because if we are free, then we must bear responsibility for our choices. Neitzsche said “men are thought of as free in order that they might become guilty.”
Common sense tells us we must weigh our choices well against our best expectation of their results. We should not harm ourselves, one another, our environment or our fellow creatures for that matter, at least not without good reason.
Then does our responsibility only depend on our ability to predict outcomes? Or is it intrinsic? Ask yourself: if you’re an idiot and you can’t reasonably be expected to predict the outcomes of your actions, would it be fair to hold them against you? So then, are we we only responsible to the extent we understand and recall the past and can reasonably predict the future based on our choices in the present?
Put another way, what does the question of free will versus predestination even mean without concepts of time and memory? One of the many pairs of opposites to consider is perception versus reality. What perception of time do the inanimate stones have? What is time, or anything else for that matter, from their point of view? In other words, without a point of view, can you even formulate a meaningful question, much less an answer?
God has so ordained it that we are beings who are required to engage in a constant struggle just to survive. If we have subdued the beasts, and to some extent the germs and diseases that plague us, we must still be vigilant against one another or even our own darker sides.
We are wired up to desire human contact, including sex. Why then should we eschew or be ashamed of these needs? The consumption of a moderate amount of meat is normally necessary for our health and well being. Why should we eat tofu burgers, so to speak, rather than real ones? Why should we substitute a faint facsimile for genuine experience? Why should we pursue academic theories to the exclusion of the fullness of life, with humor and passion and gusto? What do we accomplish thereby? Is it not vanity to try to fight a billion years of evolution? First of all, you will fail, but in any case, to what end should you even try?
Now, would you blame a fruit for falling off a tree?
By the same token, its vain and pointless to attach to the object of your desires and positively self-defeating to clutch anything too tightly, for we are all in constant motion, always passing through an infinite sequence of moments, like a string of pearls, each one perfect and unique in itself.
So, as for the question of free will versus predestination, I say mu!
Neither fight the wave, nor succumb to it. Consciously, I and I ride the cosmic surf!
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According to Wikipedia, Leibniz was one of the greatest philosophers of the 17th century, his contributions to mathematics are profound, he discovered the binary number system, and the Calculus, and his work anticipates much of modern logic and analysis.
Leibniz made major contributions to physics, biology, medicine, geology, probability theory, psychology, linguistics, and information science. “He also wrote on politics, law, ethics, theology, history, and philology, even occasional verse. His contributions to this vast array of subjects are scattered in journals and in tens of thousands of letters and unpublished manuscripts.” there is no complete edition of Leibniz’s writings.
Dude! What an inspiration.