Determinism

/dəˈtərməˌnizəm/ noun - the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will

Let's roll some dice..

If I roll a 20-sided die down a mountain, is the number it lands on random? What is random? Is it simply something we just can't explain why it happened?

While most of the universe is deterministic and measurable, quantum mechanics says there's a world of tiny particles behind everything that's governed by total randomness.

...experimental evidence suggests that quantum mechanics is real. So Einstein was probably wrong to reject the idea. However, when you try to join quantum mechanics to any other major theory in physics, like Einstein's general theory of relativity, it doesn't work. Quantum mechanics may be correct, but it's a total mystery as to how it fits in with the rest of physics.

Is it more likely that there is a reason behind quantum mechanics that we just don't understand (a "hidden variable") or that it's truly random?

Sam Harris - Free Will Exercise

Disclaimer: We're going to be discussing the subject of free will. Sam Harris will be making the claim that free will doesn't exist. Some people can be psychologically disturbed by this proposition. If you worry that this will somehow be harmful to you, please feel free to drop off/ignore this discussion.

Questions

• Anyone have initial thoughts (pun intended)? What movies did you choose?

• How does the concept of determinism/no free will go hand-in-hand with empathy? If determinism is true, how could we apply that to a world with laws and where we hold people accountable for their actions?

• If someone didn't choose their genes, their parents, and ultimately their thoughts which led to their actions, how could we hate someone?

Guided meditation

Intro

• We have nothing else to do for these next 5 mins so tell your brain to forget everything else

• Pick a place where you feel the breath

• A few minutes in: Sit back and watch your thoughts arise like your senses. What you see behind closed eyes, what you hear, feel (internally and externally). Just watch the judgment thoughts if they are there. Watch it all.

Questions

• What did that bring up?

• Did anyone have a hard time focusing? Anyone find it easy?

• How does meditation and the previous audio relate?