Faith
January 24th, 2023
I recently read an essay titled "Lessons not worth learning." It's a more career-centric essay regarding managing employee vs business interests, but I'm more interested in particular in this part:
I think you should choose the beliefs that help you live a meaningful, ethical life. Don't get too caught up on what's real or true, you'll never know for certain anyway. Why worry about being wrong, when you can be happy? Why worry about being right, if it prevents doing what you love?
Will Larson is saying that worldly beliefs are ones by faith. Aligning with cultural relativism vs. objective morality, believing in God, and other moral problems. All these choices aren't confirmed to be true or false, but just choices that individuals make.
Larson goes onto argue that if it is the case we can never know what's true, we should choose our beliefs on what doesn't limit us and rather empowers us to be happy, lovely people. He endorses a breed of practicalism so to say.
free will, nature vs. nurture, the effects of childhood on adulthood
Then for these questions that are raised in the 21st century, isn't it more beneficial to believe in empowerment?
We may truly never know if free will exists. There are mountains of arguments for and against free will. But reviewing the idea I'm finding it's more a matter of faith than science which to believe. The same goes for the nature vs. nurture argument.
Regardless, I think we can agree that if one believes in free will they will hold themselves more responsible. And by being responsible, they will make proactive choices that better life rather than be powerlessly swayed by "the environment."
If that's the case, I choose to believe:
- Free will exists and takes precedence over determinism
- Our souls are greenfield entities that are nurtured over time, not pre-determined by genetics
- Our childhood affects our adulthood, but we can learn to grow and leave it behind us
- Leaders can be made
- Anyone can be rich with taking enough risk
- Intelligence is a matter of effort and learning, not in-born IQ
- Past affects present, but the past does not determine the present. The present determines the present.
I think there will be many who disagree with the above points. But the catch is that they can never be proven wrong. Again, it's faith.
To summarize, this is an exercise of Pascal's wager on a moral scale. You should believe in free will.
So I believe I have a choice. I believe you have a choice. And I believe we should be held accountable for the choices we make.
