Philosophers, scientists, and other intellectuals have been discussing free will for centuries. It used to be mainly reserved for philosophers to explain it and try to either prove or disprove its existence. Now, free will has been the topic of many a study conducted by philosophers, scientists, psychologists and so on. No matter how much it is studied however, no one has been able to either completely prove or disprove its existence, these studies simply lead to more questions about it. There was a study done recently on free will and how belief or disbelief in it affects a person's mentality and consequently their actions.
Unbeknownst to me, there have actually been surveys done as to how many people believe in free will. It seems that the majority of the population believes in free will or, to put it more simply, that we have control over our actions. However, there has been a slight dip in the actual number of people who believe in this concept. It seems that the alternative, determinism, has made a slow advance on the psyche of some individuals. Determinism is the concept by which every decision we make is a direct result of a previous decision and that previous decision a result of one further back. This continues ad infinitum thus leaving us with no actual decision to be made, everything is pre-determined. With the concept of determinism, we can not be held accountable for our actions because we were destined to act that way to begin with.
So what are the implications of either belief in free will or belief in determinism? Well, it seems that a person who believes in free will will actually lead a more productive life, adhere to moral codes, and in general be more stable in society. Why is this the case? Well, if you believe in free will, you believe that every action you make is made based off of your own consciousness and understanding of right and wrong. If you hold the determinist point of view, you have the ability to act however you want because every action has already been laid out and thus you can not be held accountable for any action you make. It seems to me (and others in the study conducted) that if everyone held a belief in determinism over free will, society would inevitably slip into anarchy because everyone would do what they wanted regardless of laws or acceptable moral conduct. In one aspect of the study, it showed that people who adopted a belief in determinism ended up being less productive and goofed off more throughout the day because they felt that they could not be held responsible.
This dip in the belief of free will could be an explanation as to why there seems to be more unruliness in the world today. If you look at the news, there are more and more horrid stories of people acting on whims, hurting others, and seeing nothing wrong with what they are doing. Can this be scientifically proven? No, but it can be speculated upon based on the studies done. Personally, I believe in aspects of both or what could be deemed a compatabilist. I believe that we are presented with a number of options based on events and other actions/decisions that we have made. We have the capability of choosing which path to go down in the end. The paths presented to us were in part determined by a path we chose previously. Thus we can direct our lives. Perhaps Schopenhauer said it best, "Man can do what he wills, but he can not will what he wills."
So if you have made it this far you are probably wondering where this is all going. Well, I am advocating for a belief in free will. Will I change anyone's mind who is already a determinist? Probably not, but maybe through reading the linked article and showing that a belief in free will actually leads to a more happy and productive life, someone who is unsure might sway a little towards free will. Do you believe in free will and responsibility for your actions? I sure hope so. As I mentioned before, there is no scientific evidence either supporting or disproving free will. The belief in it is based in how we are raised as children, the actions we see others take, the consequences of those actions, and how society reacts to those actions taken. It is a complicated topic, but one definitely worth pondering. So what are you going to do after reading this? If you are a determinist, you were destined to read this article and you might be destined to ponder your own beliefs. If you believe in free will, the world is yours. Go out and prove that you have free will, do something radically different today. (Determinists will say they were destined to do something radically different.) I myself will go to work and do the best job I possibly can, why because I make the decision to do so, not because the course of actions is laid out for me.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Pluses and Minuses of Facebook & Technology
If you use the internet daily, log on to Facebook or Twitter, you know that it can be addictive. We all log on to check the status of friends, see what random events are being initiated on the these pages, and to add our own two cents sometimes to the plethora of information out there. As soon as we log off, however, there is a desire hours or even a few minutes later to see if anything changed, or if someone responded to a post of ours. I will be the first to admit, it takes discipline on my part not to fall into this trap. The tweets that spread like wildfire, supposedly indicative of our complex thought process and actions simply piques the interest of others, anxiously waiting for a follow up or some new abbreviated thought or comment. In general, most of this information is utterly useless. How does it impact our lives to read that someone is having trouble falling asleep or just finished baking some cookies? For all this useless information and the addictive nature of these programs and the internet itself, there is a lot of good that stems from them.
To find the good, all we have to do is look back over the past few months and look at the overturned governments in Tunisia and Egypt whose revolutions started via Facebook. There is a definite plus to these programs, allowing people to organize charitable events, initiate government protests, or simply re-connect with distant family. The internet is capable of dispersing knowledge across all borders, educating those in countries without access to otherwise mainstream media and promoting discussion amongst otherwise alienated sections of our global population. These positive effects that the internet has, however, pale in comparison to the extravagant amount of useless information that is posted, tweeted, and reported about.
The addictive side of these programs can be harmful in the long run. By continuously "logging on", we first of all make it that much harder to log off and second we distance ourselves from the very real and personal relationships that we maintain off the internet. By promulgating our pseudo relationships on the internet, we neglect the very people in our lives who have the capability of making the greatest impact on us. The longer we let these real life relationships lapse, the harder it is actually be involved in them. Now I am not saying that people should abhor the internet and disavow use of it permanently, but as with anything, there must be a certain amount of moderation that must be placed on our use of it, not by some outside source, but by ourselves.
There was an interesting article in the NYTimes about the film festival South by Southwest in which it talks about movies based on people unable to disconnect or "log off" and what happens when they do. In addition, at the festival there were forums and discussions based on social media and questioning whether it is really bringing us closer together or driving us farther apart. There was an estimate from a presenter there that about a trillion dollars of business is lost every year due to use of these online social media programs. It is definitely worth a read, and since your "logged in" right now, you might as well check it out.
There are many more beneficial activities we could be engaging in throughout the day instead of constantly logging in to Facebook or Twitter to supposedly "connect" with others. Where is the that connection? Does reading about someone's horrible coffee they just bought at Starbucks really going to promote a conversation between you and that person? How does reading about someone's horrible day and what they have to do impact my life? I think on a certain level, all of those who are "addicted" to Facebook and Twitter know that they really don't gain anything real or substantive by being logged on constantly. Yet these programs appeal to many peoples' desire to spy on other peoples lives or even a little voyeurism in the sense that the people who post these comments and pictures have no idea who is actually viewing them.
Instead of logging on constantly, why not focus on our own shortcomings and what we need to work on to better ourselves. Often times it seems, we use the internet and all its trappings to escape real life and the real work it takes to get through it successfully. If we don't work on ourselves and devote our time instead to maintaining our trivial status on the internet, where will we end up? We can not progress unless we devote time to improving ourselves and those around us. Lets take time to focus our energies on conversations off the internet with real life human beings, not some quick picture and short line supposedly representative of a person. Unless we can pull ourselves off the internet for extended periods of time, our society will languish. It may sound like a dismal point of view, but it could turn out to be true. Lets try something here, after your done reading this, shut off your computer and go talk to someone. Talk to them for at least five minutes and see how they are doing, what is going on in their life, and where they are headed. You never know, it may inspire you to do it more often. (And when your done with that conversation, don't go tweet it all over the internet). Lets get more involved in real life, not a pseudo life on the internet.
To find the good, all we have to do is look back over the past few months and look at the overturned governments in Tunisia and Egypt whose revolutions started via Facebook. There is a definite plus to these programs, allowing people to organize charitable events, initiate government protests, or simply re-connect with distant family. The internet is capable of dispersing knowledge across all borders, educating those in countries without access to otherwise mainstream media and promoting discussion amongst otherwise alienated sections of our global population. These positive effects that the internet has, however, pale in comparison to the extravagant amount of useless information that is posted, tweeted, and reported about.
The addictive side of these programs can be harmful in the long run. By continuously "logging on", we first of all make it that much harder to log off and second we distance ourselves from the very real and personal relationships that we maintain off the internet. By promulgating our pseudo relationships on the internet, we neglect the very people in our lives who have the capability of making the greatest impact on us. The longer we let these real life relationships lapse, the harder it is actually be involved in them. Now I am not saying that people should abhor the internet and disavow use of it permanently, but as with anything, there must be a certain amount of moderation that must be placed on our use of it, not by some outside source, but by ourselves.
There was an interesting article in the NYTimes about the film festival South by Southwest in which it talks about movies based on people unable to disconnect or "log off" and what happens when they do. In addition, at the festival there were forums and discussions based on social media and questioning whether it is really bringing us closer together or driving us farther apart. There was an estimate from a presenter there that about a trillion dollars of business is lost every year due to use of these online social media programs. It is definitely worth a read, and since your "logged in" right now, you might as well check it out.
There are many more beneficial activities we could be engaging in throughout the day instead of constantly logging in to Facebook or Twitter to supposedly "connect" with others. Where is the that connection? Does reading about someone's horrible coffee they just bought at Starbucks really going to promote a conversation between you and that person? How does reading about someone's horrible day and what they have to do impact my life? I think on a certain level, all of those who are "addicted" to Facebook and Twitter know that they really don't gain anything real or substantive by being logged on constantly. Yet these programs appeal to many peoples' desire to spy on other peoples lives or even a little voyeurism in the sense that the people who post these comments and pictures have no idea who is actually viewing them.
Instead of logging on constantly, why not focus on our own shortcomings and what we need to work on to better ourselves. Often times it seems, we use the internet and all its trappings to escape real life and the real work it takes to get through it successfully. If we don't work on ourselves and devote our time instead to maintaining our trivial status on the internet, where will we end up? We can not progress unless we devote time to improving ourselves and those around us. Lets take time to focus our energies on conversations off the internet with real life human beings, not some quick picture and short line supposedly representative of a person. Unless we can pull ourselves off the internet for extended periods of time, our society will languish. It may sound like a dismal point of view, but it could turn out to be true. Lets try something here, after your done reading this, shut off your computer and go talk to someone. Talk to them for at least five minutes and see how they are doing, what is going on in their life, and where they are headed. You never know, it may inspire you to do it more often. (And when your done with that conversation, don't go tweet it all over the internet). Lets get more involved in real life, not a pseudo life on the internet.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Transcending Cultural Differences Through Art
With all the political and religious turmoil engulfing our world today, there seem to be fewer and fewer ways to effectively bridge the divide between the different points of view. One constant that can always bring to the forefront the beauty of humanity and transcend our differences is art. Art affects everyone in different ways drawing on our individual concepts of beauty and inspiring emotional responses to the work in front of us. While there are many different styles and influences in art, perhaps the most profound and influential is that which stems from religion. Every religion has its own distinct style of art, representative of regional influences and combining the work of human hands with what some would call divine influence.
Currently in the U.S. there has been an increase in Islamic intolerance, efforts to curb radicalization, and by some, outright bigotry in a land that was created to allow freedom for anyone to worship anything. There have been efforts to tame this intolerance based mostly I feel on a lack of knowledge of Islam itself. Despite efforts to educate society and build trust between all religions, intolerance and indifference still continue. However, there is a "bridge" being built, (not literally) that will offer a unique view into the beauty of Islam. This "bridge" is a permanent installation in the MET that has already been years in the making. When completed it will be a new gallery to house Islamic art. The gallery itself will transport visitors to the Muslim world, complete with beautifully and painstakingly crafted architecture pieces. The model for this gallery draws off of architecture from the 14th century, complete with detailed plaster carvings, inlaid tile mosaics, intricately decorated arches and so on.
To complete this project, the MET traveled to the town of Fez, Morocco to find craftsmen skilled in creating this detailed architectural work. The craftsmen they eventually hired, 12 in all, had skills passed down from generations of family members. Most of these craftsmen, currently still working on this project which won't be finished till this coming fall, had never set foot on U.S. soil before. Perhaps this initial move to bring foreign craftsmen to America to work will be the start to breaking intolerance. It could work both ways. As we all know, there are many outside of America especially in Muslim lands, who don't view us in the best of lights. This gesture to show Americans the beauty of Muslim architecture and art will hopefully be seen by those abroad as an initial move to eliminate intolerance. These workers, it can only be hoped, will see America for the beauty that we possess as a people, and bring that knowledge home with them to their families and friends showing that America should not just be judged by its government's actions.
As Americans, we have a duty to educate ourselves in the beliefs of our fellow citizens. Does this mean that we have to adopt their belief system? No, it simply means that we must strive for greater understanding of the underlying tenets of their religion and what it means to them. Intolerance is born of indifference and a lack of education. If people do not understand a different religion, they are more likely to speak out against it because it does not fall within the realm of their beliefs. There are too many people out there, Christians especially it seems, who fail to realize that Islam was born of the same roots of Judaism and Christianity. In essence, by discriminating against Muslims, we are discriminating against our religious ancestors. There is one important constant that transcends these three religions; belief in God. We may differ on our beliefs on how to worship or how to lead wholesome lives, but it shouldn't be a divisive factor. As with anything in life, there are different paths to achieve a common goal.
When this permanent installation opens at the MET, I can only hope that it will be flooded with visitors who will be inspired to learn more. For those who have not seen the intricacy of this type of architecture and art, you will be amazed. In my travels, one place I visited that this gallery will emulate to an extent is the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. This palace is stunningly beautiful and is worlds away from anything that Westerners have seen. When I first saw this architecture and art, I was inspired to learn more and I only hope that the art being created at the MET will do the same. Let art be the starting point for understanding. Let it inspire in us a desire to bring our country back to the vision our founding fathers had; one of tolerance for people in all walks of life and an ability to worship freely. Lets start now by being a little more open minded to the beliefs of others. After all, this is the United States and we all have a duty to stand up for the freedom of all people.
Currently in the U.S. there has been an increase in Islamic intolerance, efforts to curb radicalization, and by some, outright bigotry in a land that was created to allow freedom for anyone to worship anything. There have been efforts to tame this intolerance based mostly I feel on a lack of knowledge of Islam itself. Despite efforts to educate society and build trust between all religions, intolerance and indifference still continue. However, there is a "bridge" being built, (not literally) that will offer a unique view into the beauty of Islam. This "bridge" is a permanent installation in the MET that has already been years in the making. When completed it will be a new gallery to house Islamic art. The gallery itself will transport visitors to the Muslim world, complete with beautifully and painstakingly crafted architecture pieces. The model for this gallery draws off of architecture from the 14th century, complete with detailed plaster carvings, inlaid tile mosaics, intricately decorated arches and so on.
To complete this project, the MET traveled to the town of Fez, Morocco to find craftsmen skilled in creating this detailed architectural work. The craftsmen they eventually hired, 12 in all, had skills passed down from generations of family members. Most of these craftsmen, currently still working on this project which won't be finished till this coming fall, had never set foot on U.S. soil before. Perhaps this initial move to bring foreign craftsmen to America to work will be the start to breaking intolerance. It could work both ways. As we all know, there are many outside of America especially in Muslim lands, who don't view us in the best of lights. This gesture to show Americans the beauty of Muslim architecture and art will hopefully be seen by those abroad as an initial move to eliminate intolerance. These workers, it can only be hoped, will see America for the beauty that we possess as a people, and bring that knowledge home with them to their families and friends showing that America should not just be judged by its government's actions.
As Americans, we have a duty to educate ourselves in the beliefs of our fellow citizens. Does this mean that we have to adopt their belief system? No, it simply means that we must strive for greater understanding of the underlying tenets of their religion and what it means to them. Intolerance is born of indifference and a lack of education. If people do not understand a different religion, they are more likely to speak out against it because it does not fall within the realm of their beliefs. There are too many people out there, Christians especially it seems, who fail to realize that Islam was born of the same roots of Judaism and Christianity. In essence, by discriminating against Muslims, we are discriminating against our religious ancestors. There is one important constant that transcends these three religions; belief in God. We may differ on our beliefs on how to worship or how to lead wholesome lives, but it shouldn't be a divisive factor. As with anything in life, there are different paths to achieve a common goal.
When this permanent installation opens at the MET, I can only hope that it will be flooded with visitors who will be inspired to learn more. For those who have not seen the intricacy of this type of architecture and art, you will be amazed. In my travels, one place I visited that this gallery will emulate to an extent is the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. This palace is stunningly beautiful and is worlds away from anything that Westerners have seen. When I first saw this architecture and art, I was inspired to learn more and I only hope that the art being created at the MET will do the same. Let art be the starting point for understanding. Let it inspire in us a desire to bring our country back to the vision our founding fathers had; one of tolerance for people in all walks of life and an ability to worship freely. Lets start now by being a little more open minded to the beliefs of others. After all, this is the United States and we all have a duty to stand up for the freedom of all people.
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