Q&A: Free Choice
Free Choice
Question
Hello Rabbi,
From what I read in the book "Thoughts on Reality" (which you reviewed on your site), I saw a kind of proof the author raised regarding free choice. I’m not sure I understood the point completely, but an idea flashed into my mind: if the deterministic character of nature also applies to a person, his mode of thinking, his desires, and so on, then how does a person come up with mistaken scientific theories that do not stand up to experiments? After all, if the system of nature generated a theory out of itself, then surely it should fit the structure of nature itself, which is what generated it.
Thank you in advance.
Answer
Why couldn’t nature generate incorrect thoughts about itself? Doesn’t it also create creatures that are unsuccessful in many respects? So in terms of patterns of thought too, that can happen.
Discussion on Answer
I didn’t understand the question. You said that if nature created us, then mistakes cannot exist. And I claim that they can. Now you’re saying that we cannot know that there are mistakes, just as we cannot know that we are right. A deterministic machine doesn’t really know anything. That is clear, but that is a different question.
I didn’t understand, Rabbi. **We** decided that 'mutations' are 'mutations.' In other words, mutations really are a direct product of nature; it’s only we who come along with some extra-natural conception, judge them, and say that they are 'unsuccessful.'