I come at this from the fundamental physics perspective so no, I don't believe we have free will. I behave as if I do, but I didn't really have any choice in that ;)
That raises uncomfortable questions about personal accountability, crime, and punishment however, since a person without free will can't justifiably be punished for taking actions they had no say in (likewise, credit and reward for valuable or good deeds are also moot).
This leads me to one of The Necessary Lies of Civilization*
NLC #1: For a society to function, its members must believe in human free will .
*Credit to CGP Grey for the concept of Necessary Lies of Civilization. See Hello Internet Podcast episode #99 for discussion and examples.
FeynStructure
npub10s…mtu2g
2026-04-17 20:36:59 UTC
in reply to nevent1q…afcp
Author Public Key
npub10sfqr5vucrdnkkgullhu7j9vmesxjtps2arull53q4nrxmwhh8dsemtu2gPublished at
2026-04-17 20:36:59 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "I come at this from the fundamental physics perspective so no, I don't believe we have free will. I behave as if I do, but I didn't really have any choice in that ;)\n\nThat raises uncomfortable questions about personal accountability, crime, and punishment however, since a person without free will can't justifiably be punished for taking actions they had no say in (likewise, credit and reward for valuable or good deeds are also moot).\n\nThis leads me to one of The Necessary Lies of Civilization*\n\nNLC #1: For a society to function, its members must believe in human free will .\n\n*Credit to CGP Grey for the concept of Necessary Lies of Civilization. See Hello Internet Podcast episode #99 for discussion and examples. \n\n",
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