Causal Determinism (The Fixed Track)

Think of a long row of falling dominoes. Once the first one is pushed, every other domino has to fall in a specific way. Some people think the whole universe is like those dominoes, where everything that happens today happened because of something that happened yesterday. In this view the road is already built, and it goes exactly where it is supposed to go. Even though it feels like you are steering, the road is what decides where you end up. It reminds us that we are all part of a very big connected story that started a long time ago.

Everything that happens today happened because of something that happened yesterday. The Big Bang happened. Then atoms formed. Then stars. Then planets. Then amino acids. Then cells. Then you. Every link in that chain was caused by the link before it. And you are a link. Not the first link. Not the last link. But a link. Your thoughts are electrochemical reactions. Your reactions were shaped by your DNA. Your DNA was shaped by four billion years of survival. So when you choose chocolate over vanilla — was that you? Or was that a preference installed by a chain of events that started thirteen point eight billion years before you were born? Determinism does not say you are a puppet. Determinism says you are a domino that feels like a finger. And that feeling — that beautiful, stubborn feeling of choosing — might be the most elegant domino of all.

Causal determinism: the state of the world at any time plus the laws of nature entails the state at all later times. Determinism does not say you are a puppet. Determinism says you are a domino that feels like a finger.

SOUND: A grandfather clock ticking steadily: the sound of a cause producing an effect producing a cause.

SMELL: A library full of old books already written: the scent of a story that was finished before you opened it.

TASTE: A recipe that tastes exactly the same every time: same inputs same outputs.

TOUCH: Following a guide rail with your hand in the dark: the track deciding the direction before you feel it.

SIGHT: A massive gear turning a smaller gear inside a clock: every motion caused by the motion before it.

BODY: The steady rhythm of your own heartbeat: a chain reaction that started before you were born and will not ask permission to continue.

Music: Sinking by Jars of Clay

Music: Dream Song by Shallow Alcove

Music: Honesty by Billy Joel

Part of Free Will & Choice — CONSCIOUSNESS — Education Revelation