Things Atheists Say by Patrick Prill

Author:Patrick Prill
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Fidelis Publishing
Published: 2021-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

YOU JUST THINK YOU HAVE FREE WILL

Above the level of the smallest numbers of fermions and bosons, the universe is almost totally deterministic. That means that everything we do is just the consequence of the laws of nature and events in the distant past.166

The fact that the mind is the brain guarantees there is no free will.167

—Alex Rosenberg

According to Alex Rosenberg’s way of thinking, none of us have free will. The brain is a physical organ and is subject to the physical laws of nature and external events. These influences direct the neural connections in our brain to make decisions that appear to be our own free choices but, in reality, are not. Free will is just an illusion.

How could Rosenberg reasonably reach this conclusion? Like everyone else, he probably picks out his clothes to wear in the morning, chooses what to order at the local diner, selects what to watch on television, and decides when to go to bed. He likely made a decision to accept his teaching position at Duke University and probably decides what to include in his lesson plans. He probably makes dozens, if not hundreds, of decisions every day. How is it then that he believes he doesn’t make these decisions freely?

Alex Rosenberg sees the universe through the eyes of scientism, which he claims is committed to determinism.168 He sees physics, chemistry and biology as having no real design, plans or purposes—they just are. Since we are merely biological life-forms, we have no designs, plans or purposes either—we just are. We possess consciousness and the ability to think, but we’re sort of like ants and beavers who do what they do because they’re compelled to do it.169 So, if our conscious minds tell us we make decisions, it’s merely an illusion.170 After all, as he says, scientism is “committed to a purpose-free mind.”171

At its core, determinism is based on the notion that the universe is a closed system of cause and effect—sort of like a set of balls on a billiard table continuously bouncing into and off each other. That’s a logical assumption based on the idea that everything has a physical cause. However, this idea has its limitations as we’ll see in a minute.

According to Rosenberg’s determinism, criminals aren’t really at fault. Crime is like a disease; it’s not a decision. Therefore, criminals aren’t really guilty and don’t deserve punishment. (Though, to protect others, it may be necessary to incarcerate them.)172 Likewise, those who possess wealth don’t really deserve it because their wealth wasn’t really the result of their plans and purposes.173 I guess this means none of his students deserve a grade on their exams—they presumably don’t have plans or purposes either.

Are our decisions really just the result of the laws of physics, chemical reactions, neurons firing in our heads and events in the distant past? Without neurons in our brains, we couldn’t think, but is that what dictates our decisions?

Does an architect really design a high-rise building only because (like a very

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