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Review of Homo Deus, by Yuval Noah Harari

August 21, 2022 by Norm Bearrentine

Yuval says that the future is not deterministic, but depends on the decisions we make. At the same time, he says there is no free will, which means that whatever decisions we make are determined by our personal history. If … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2022

Determinism in Daily Life

July 1, 2022 by Norm Bearrentine

Determinism is the understanding that everything that is, is the result of everything that came before, and that includes you and me and everything about us. There is no free will. If you don’t believe that, then there … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2022

Review of Daniel Dennett’s Elbow Room

May 23, 2017 by Norm Bearrentine Leave a Comment

(I wrote this review in 2010, but never got around to posting it here. He published a more recent edition in 2015 that I may review at some point; there were many issues I didn't get to in this one.) This book reminds me … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2008, 2017 Tagged With: Daniel Dennett, determinism, free will

Yun-Men’s Dried Shitstick

December 21, 2008 by Norm Bearrentine Leave a Comment

When Yun-Men said that the Buddha was a dried shitstick, he may not have had the same intent as the movie makers who exploit the “yuk factor,” described in this New York Times article, but from a certain perspective they have … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2008

Meditation, Smiling, Mood Control, and Relationships

October 26, 2008 by Norm Bearrentine Leave a Comment

My wife, Eve, has been staying with me for three weeks, and will be here through the month of November. Those of you who’ve been keeping track will know that we haven’t lived together for three years, although we’re best … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2008

Lucid Dreaming, Videogames, Books, Movies, Everyday Life—The Reality of Reality

October 12, 2008 by Norm Bearrentine Leave a Comment

Lucid dreaming versus normal dreaming versus everyday reality: Tom Clark has an excellent article on this subject, which I just got around to reading, and it reminded me of a TED talk by David Perry, “Will Videogames Become … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2008

War, Financial Crisis, “Religulous,” Buddhism, Kipling, Naturalism, and Identity—Fantasy Versus Reality

October 6, 2008 by Norm Bearrentine Leave a Comment

“If any question why we died, Tell them, because our fathers lied.” That’s from Rudyard Kipling’s poem about the first world war, quoted by Roger Cohen in a great column in today’s New York Times. If you look at how we got … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2008

Eve Ensler, Sex, Compulsion, and Freedom

September 19, 2008 by Norm Bearrentine Leave a Comment

I wrote about Eve Ensler, author and performer of “The Vagina Monologues,” and a talk of hers, “Finding Happiness in Body and Soul,” on TED in an earlier post. Another of her talks, “Security and Insecurity,” was recently … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2008

As Good As It Gets

September 15, 2008 by Norm Bearrentine Leave a Comment

“This is as good as it gets.” That was the thought that occurred to me as I was settling into the recliner for a nap, and it gave me a huge laugh. I’m going to explain the cause for laughter Southern style, but if you get … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2008

Is Your Self a Thing or a Process?

September 13, 2008 by Norm Bearrentine Leave a Comment

What is your self, really, in essence? That’s a question that Socrates or Plato would ask, and actually, that kind of question goes back as far as the Upanishads, perhaps earlier—we don’t have any written record much earlier … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2008

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What This Site Is About

When I realized that the idea of god was a joke, I thought that was the end of the story. Later I found that Christianity had shaped my values, and while some were worth keeping, many had lost their foundation—the meaning of life, for example. Something similar happened when I realized that the idea of free will was a joke, and I’ve spent the decades since both those realizations discovering and editing what Julia Galef calls the “orphan beliefs” they left behind. It’s a tricky business, and this blog has been a chronicle of my efforts to puzzle it all out, including reviews of related books. I hope you find it helpful.

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