1
00:00:10,267 --> 00:00:13,868
I have been thinking a lot lately
about the following question:

2
00:00:13,881 --> 00:00:16,794
what would happen
if we came to disbelieve in free will?

3
00:00:16,795 --> 00:00:19,590
What would this mean
for our interpersonal relationships,

4
00:00:19,591 --> 00:00:22,130
society, morality, meaning in the law?

5
00:00:22,131 --> 00:00:25,862
For example, would giving up the belief
in free will have dire consequences

6
00:00:25,863 --> 00:00:27,572
for society or something?

7
00:00:27,573 --> 00:00:30,107
Or would it rather have
a humanizing effect

8
00:00:30,108 --> 00:00:31,907
on our practices and polices,

9
00:00:31,908 --> 00:00:34,903
freeing us from the negative effects
of belief in free will?

10
00:00:34,904 --> 00:00:36,603
What I would like to propose today

11
00:00:36,604 --> 00:00:39,558
is that the belief in free will
rather than being a good thing

12
00:00:39,559 --> 00:00:42,646
actually has a dark side
and that we'd be better off without it.

13
00:00:42,647 --> 00:00:44,652
I know this is counterintuitive.

14
00:00:44,653 --> 00:00:47,598
Many people fear that life
without free will lead to nihilism,

15
00:00:47,599 --> 00:00:51,368
there'd be no reason to go on,
or that it would undermine morality.

16
00:00:51,369 --> 00:00:53,701
Or that we will just let
criminals run free

17
00:00:53,702 --> 00:00:56,561
since there'd be no moral responsibility.

18
00:00:56,562 --> 00:00:59,471
But I would like to paint
a different picture for you today.

19
00:00:59,472 --> 00:01:01,855
It begins with the idea
of free will skepticism.

20
00:01:01,856 --> 00:01:05,221
So I am a free will skeptic.
I deny the existence of free will.

21
00:01:05,221 --> 00:01:08,499
Free will skeptics maintain
that who we are, what we do,

22
00:01:08,500 --> 00:01:11,459
is ultimately the result of factors
beyond our control,

23
00:01:11,460 --> 00:01:12,727
and because of this,

24
00:01:12,728 --> 00:01:16,497
we are never morally responsible for
our actions in the basic desert sense

25
00:01:16,498 --> 00:01:21,003
that is the sense that would make us
truly deserving of praise and blame.

26
00:01:21,004 --> 00:01:24,836
Historically, there have been a number
of philosophical and scientific arguments

27
00:01:24,837 --> 00:01:26,166
for free will skepticism,

28
00:01:26,167 --> 00:01:29,100
and I've promoted
these arguments in my own work,

29
00:01:29,101 --> 00:01:32,493
but I'm not here today to try
to convince you that you lack free will.

30
00:01:32,494 --> 00:01:33,940
It's not my goal.

31
00:01:33,941 --> 00:01:36,704
I'm actually interested
in a slightly different question:

32
00:01:36,705 --> 00:01:39,369
what would happen if we came
to accept this perspective?

33
00:01:39,370 --> 00:01:43,196
What would happen, practically speaking,
if we came to disbelieve in free will?

34
00:01:43,197 --> 00:01:46,217
Would it be, on the whole,
a good thing or a bad thing?

35
00:01:46,218 --> 00:01:48,391
And it's here that I'm an optimist.

36
00:01:48,392 --> 00:01:51,390
I am optimistic about the prospects
of life without free will.

37
00:01:51,391 --> 00:01:53,354
I call myself an optimistic skeptic.

38
00:01:53,355 --> 00:01:55,830
As an optimistic skeptic,

39
00:01:55,831 --> 00:01:57,720
I maintain that life without free will

40
00:01:57,721 --> 00:01:59,951
is not only possible
but that it's preferable.

41
00:01:59,952 --> 00:02:01,769
Prospects of finding meaning in life

42
00:02:01,770 --> 00:02:04,739
and sustaining good interpersonal
relationships, for example,

43
00:02:04,740 --> 00:02:06,179
would not be threatened.

44
00:02:06,180 --> 00:02:08,107
Although certain systems of punishment

45
00:02:08,108 --> 00:02:11,026
like those based on the model
of retribution or just deserts

46
00:02:11,027 --> 00:02:12,326
would be ruled out;

47
00:02:12,327 --> 00:02:15,810
preventive detention and rehabilitation
programs would still be justified.

48
00:02:15,811 --> 00:02:18,322
I will say a little bit more
about these in a moment.

49
00:02:18,323 --> 00:02:20,119
So as an optimistic skeptic,

50
00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:24,549
I maintain that life without free will
may actually be good for our well being,

51
00:02:24,550 --> 00:02:26,201
and our relationships with others,

52
00:02:26,202 --> 00:02:29,701
since it could tend to eradicate
an often destructive form of moral anger,

53
00:02:29,702 --> 00:02:31,274
a kind of moral anger

54
00:02:31,275 --> 00:02:35,314
that's corrosive to our relationships
and to our social policies.

55
00:02:35,315 --> 00:02:39,453
So to better understand
the dark side of free will,

56
00:02:39,454 --> 00:02:41,359
what I want to do is just talk about

57
00:02:41,367 --> 00:02:44,328
some recent empirical work
in moral political physiology.

58
00:02:44,329 --> 00:02:46,781
What this work has done has actually shown

59
00:02:46,782 --> 00:02:50,581
that there is a number of interesting
and potentially troubling correlations

60
00:02:50,582 --> 00:02:52,321
between the belief in free will

61
00:02:52,322 --> 00:02:55,041
and people's other moral religious
and political beliefs.

62
00:02:55,042 --> 00:02:58,418
In particular, what they found is
that free will beliefs are correlated

63
00:02:58,434 --> 00:03:01,567
with higher levels
of religiosity, punitiveness,

64
00:03:01,568 --> 00:03:04,075
and a number of conservative
beliefs in attitude,

65
00:03:04,076 --> 00:03:06,795
such as just world belief
and right wing authoritarianism.

66
00:03:06,796 --> 00:03:09,136
I am only going to focus on
two of these today,

67
00:03:09,137 --> 00:03:12,555
that is the connection between the belief
in free will and punitiveness,

68
00:03:12,556 --> 00:03:16,295
and that between the belief in free will
and what's called just world belief.

69
00:03:16,296 --> 00:03:18,802
So we take punitiveness for example.

70
00:03:18,803 --> 00:03:22,384
What this research has shown is
that where believe in free will is strong,

71
00:03:22,385 --> 00:03:24,064
as we see increased punitiveness,

72
00:03:24,065 --> 00:03:27,433
that is people are more likely to call
for harsher forms of punishment

73
00:03:27,434 --> 00:03:29,143
in a number of different scenarios.

74
00:03:29,144 --> 00:03:32,137
And this makes sense:
if you think people possess free will,

75
00:03:32,138 --> 00:03:35,972
then you believe they justly deserve to
be praised and blamed for their actions.

76
00:03:35,973 --> 00:03:40,028
if they engage in an immoral act, you want
to see them get their just deserts, right?

77
00:03:40,029 --> 00:03:42,094
It's very close
to a notion of retribution:

78
00:03:42,095 --> 00:03:45,826
you want to inflict harm on them
for the harm they've inflicted on others.

79
00:03:45,827 --> 00:03:48,827
But the downside of this is, again,
you can create a moral anger

80
00:03:48,827 --> 00:03:53,141
that's destructive to our relationships
with others and to our social policies.

81
00:03:53,142 --> 00:03:55,556
So consider this on a macro level,

82
00:03:55,557 --> 00:03:59,726
belief in free will is relatively strong
in the United States.

83
00:03:59,727 --> 00:04:01,907
In fact, it's built right
into the mythology

84
00:04:01,908 --> 00:04:05,001
of the rugged individual,
the self-made man, the causa Sui,

85
00:04:05,022 --> 00:04:07,881
the person that can pull themselves up
from the bootstraps

86
00:04:07,882 --> 00:04:10,041
and overcome all
of their life circumstances.

87
00:04:10,042 --> 00:04:12,319
But because we are
so committed to this belief,

88
00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:14,789
we are also a relatively punitive society.

89
00:04:14,790 --> 00:04:16,988
Consider this one simple fact:

90
00:04:16,988 --> 00:04:20,310
the United States makes up about 5%
of the world's population,

91
00:04:20,310 --> 00:04:23,604
yet it incarcerates
25% of the world's prisoners.

92
00:04:23,605 --> 00:04:26,654
I will say that again
because it's a rather startling statistic:

93
00:04:26,655 --> 00:04:30,384
we make up a relatively small sliver
of the world's population, about 5%,

94
00:04:30,385 --> 00:04:33,950
but we house and imprison
25% of the world's prisoners.

95
00:04:33,951 --> 00:04:37,870
I don't think it's controversial to say
our criminal justice system is broken.

96
00:04:37,871 --> 00:04:41,657
It is not working, not making us safer,
it's not reducing crime,

97
00:04:41,658 --> 00:04:44,394
it's, by no means, achieving
our desired social goals,

98
00:04:44,395 --> 00:04:47,798
and it is not reducing the rate
of recidivism, that is repeat crime.

99
00:04:47,799 --> 00:04:51,463
But just perhaps, if we adopt
the skeptical perspective,

100
00:04:51,464 --> 00:04:55,743
we might be able to adopt more effective,
and more humane policies.

101
00:04:55,744 --> 00:04:57,804
So let me just briefly sketch quickly

102
00:04:57,805 --> 00:05:00,894
how a free will skeptic
might address criminal behavior.

103
00:05:00,895 --> 00:05:03,527
There's a professor
- not too far from here,

104
00:05:03,534 --> 00:05:06,468
his name is Derek Pereboom,
he teaches at Cornell University;

105
00:05:06,470 --> 00:05:08,440
he's a free will skeptic, like myself -

106
00:05:08,441 --> 00:05:11,308
and he proposes a model
for dealing with dangerous criminals

107
00:05:11,309 --> 00:05:14,098
based on analogy with quarantine.

108
00:05:14,099 --> 00:05:18,025
So people who contract contagious diseases
do so for no fault of their own,

109
00:05:18,026 --> 00:05:20,883
they're not morally responsible
for having done so;

110
00:05:20,884 --> 00:05:23,073
we don't think they
deserve to be punished.

111
00:05:23,074 --> 00:05:24,487
But we do feel justified

112
00:05:24,488 --> 00:05:27,347
in quarantining those individuals
for the safety of society.

113
00:05:27,348 --> 00:05:29,983
Well, we can say the same thing
for dangerous criminals

114
00:05:29,984 --> 00:05:32,936
that is even you adopted
the perspective that I am advocating,

115
00:05:32,937 --> 00:05:35,926
and you believe that individuals
are not ultimately responsible

116
00:05:35,927 --> 00:05:37,306
for becoming who they are,

117
00:05:37,307 --> 00:05:41,013
we could still justify detaining those
individuals for the safety of society.

118
00:05:41,014 --> 00:05:44,061
But if we did this, this would entail
a number of major reforms,

119
00:05:44,062 --> 00:05:47,660
all of which I think are actually
really important and good.

120
00:05:47,661 --> 00:05:49,443
For one, we'd have the duty

121
00:05:49,444 --> 00:05:52,013
to the well-being
and rehabilitation of criminals,

122
00:05:52,014 --> 00:05:53,654
just like you would have a duty

123
00:05:53,655 --> 00:05:56,244
to treat the person
in quarantine for their disease.

124
00:05:56,245 --> 00:05:59,171
Secondly,

125
00:06:02,731 --> 00:06:05,930
you couldn't treat those individuals
cruelly while being detained,

126
00:06:05,931 --> 00:06:10,262
just like you couldn't treat cruelly
the people we are holding in quarantine.

127
00:06:10,263 --> 00:06:13,318
Thirdly, if there are less severe
forms of punishment available,

128
00:06:13,319 --> 00:06:16,160
we'd have to opt for
those less severe forms of punishment

129
00:06:16,161 --> 00:06:19,414
and that might entail rethinking
some of our harsher sentencing laws,

130
00:06:19,415 --> 00:06:22,614
and some of our crueler forms
of punishment in super max prisons.

131
00:06:22,615 --> 00:06:23,675
And lastly,

132
00:06:23,676 --> 00:06:27,135
if you are someone like myself,
you think it's the causal circumstances

133
00:06:27,136 --> 00:06:29,375
that drive these behaviors
in the first place,

134
00:06:29,376 --> 00:06:32,545
then free will skeptics would put
their money, resources and focus

135
00:06:32,546 --> 00:06:35,345
on addressing the systemic causes
that lead to criminality:

136
00:06:35,346 --> 00:06:37,407
wealth, inequality, educational inequity.

137
00:06:37,408 --> 00:06:39,678
So instead of blaming people
and punishing them,

138
00:06:39,679 --> 00:06:43,488
on the tail-end, you'd try to prevent
the criminal behavior in the first place.

139
00:06:43,489 --> 00:06:44,843
(Applause)

140
00:06:44,844 --> 00:06:46,004
Thank you.

141
00:06:46,005 --> 00:06:50,534
Not only do I think free will skeptics can
deal successfully with criminal behaviors,

142
00:06:50,535 --> 00:06:53,396
I think they could do so
more humanely and more effectively.

143
00:06:53,397 --> 00:06:55,974
So let me switch over
to the other belief I mentioned:

144
00:06:55,975 --> 00:06:58,911
belief in free will has also been shown
through this research

145
00:06:58,912 --> 00:07:01,469
to correlate with what is known
as just world belief.

146
00:07:01,470 --> 00:07:02,597
So what is it?

147
00:07:02,598 --> 00:07:05,340
Fundamentally, it is the belief
that the world is just,

148
00:07:05,341 --> 00:07:08,935
good things happen to good people,
and bad things happen to bad people.

149
00:07:08,936 --> 00:07:12,383
But also, fundamentally,
it's a blame-the-victim approach

150
00:07:12,384 --> 00:07:15,451
since it maintains that individuals
justly deserve what they get,

151
00:07:15,452 --> 00:07:19,206
and that those who meet misfortune
have often brought it them on themselves.

152
00:07:19,207 --> 00:07:23,637
In the 1960s, psychologists developed
what is known as just world belief scale.

153
00:07:23,638 --> 00:07:26,907
It was meant to design people's commitment
to this type of belief,

154
00:07:26,908 --> 00:07:30,749
but it was also particularly designed to
capture the natural tendency people have

155
00:07:30,750 --> 00:07:33,839
to blame those who meet misfortune
for their own circumstances.

156
00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:38,613
Over the years, what they found
is that high scores on this belief,

157
00:07:38,614 --> 00:07:41,903
correlate with the likelihood
of derogating innocent victims,

158
00:07:41,904 --> 00:07:44,767
trusting current institutions
and authorities,

159
00:07:44,768 --> 00:07:48,177
and blaming the poor and praising
the rich for their respective faiths.

160
00:07:48,178 --> 00:07:51,197
As I said, this is essentially
a blame-the-victim approach;

161
00:07:51,198 --> 00:07:53,955
you can see manifestations
of it all throughout society.

162
00:07:53,956 --> 00:07:55,271
One of the more pernicious

163
00:07:55,272 --> 00:07:58,351
is the tendency, both among
ordinary folk and the legal system,

164
00:07:58,352 --> 00:08:00,781
to blame rape victims
for their own circumstances.

165
00:08:00,782 --> 00:08:01,942
So if the world is just,

166
00:08:01,943 --> 00:08:05,622
and good things happen to good people,
and bad things happen to bad people,

167
00:08:05,623 --> 00:08:08,391
to try to reconcile
such a horrific act as rape

168
00:08:08,392 --> 00:08:10,773
while preserving the belief
that the world is just,

169
00:08:10,773 --> 00:08:13,565
you turn that innocent victim
into somebody that's guilty.

170
00:08:13,566 --> 00:08:15,305
They were dressed provocatively,

171
00:08:15,306 --> 00:08:17,974
they were walking
where they shouldn't had been walking.

172
00:08:17,975 --> 00:08:20,556
Another manifestation
of this blame-the-victim approach

173
00:08:20,557 --> 00:08:22,206
could be seen throughout society.

174
00:08:22,207 --> 00:08:25,349
For example, blaming those in poverty
for their own circumstances.

175
00:08:25,350 --> 00:08:27,797
Claiming that those on welfare
are lazy or mooches.

176
00:08:27,798 --> 00:08:31,347
Or blaming educational inequity on
the children and the parents themselves.

177
00:08:31,348 --> 00:08:34,765
But we all know, at least on a more
rational deliberate moment,

178
00:08:34,765 --> 00:08:36,385
that the world is not just,

179
00:08:36,385 --> 00:08:39,107
and that the lottery of life
is not always fair.

180
00:08:39,109 --> 00:08:42,048
We need to acknowledge the role
that luck plays in our lives,

181
00:08:42,049 --> 00:08:44,479
who we are, and how we turn out, right?

182
00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:47,063
We don't all have equal starting points.

183
00:08:47,064 --> 00:08:49,434
As I said in the beginning,
I'm an optimist,

184
00:08:49,435 --> 00:08:52,587
I am optimistic that if we could adopt
this skeptical perspective,

185
00:08:52,588 --> 00:08:54,157
we may be able to free ourselves

186
00:08:54,158 --> 00:08:56,589
from some of these beliefs
and harmful tendencies.

187
00:08:56,590 --> 00:08:58,889
In fact, there was
a recent study that came out

188
00:08:58,890 --> 00:09:00,835
in the Journal of Psychological Science

189
00:09:00,836 --> 00:09:03,605
that found that by reducing
people's beliefs in free will,

190
00:09:03,606 --> 00:09:05,402
it actually made them less punitive,

191
00:09:05,403 --> 00:09:09,269
and call for less harsh forms of treatment
in a number of hypothetical scenarios.

192
00:09:09,270 --> 00:09:12,622
This tells me two things: one,
it reaffirms what I was saying earlier,

193
00:09:12,623 --> 00:09:16,150
that where believe in free will is strong
as we see increased punitiveness,

194
00:09:16,151 --> 00:09:17,839
but it also provides hopes to me

195
00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:21,598
that we can perhaps relinquish ourselves
on some of these more harmful beliefs

196
00:09:21,599 --> 00:09:25,029
and by doing so, loose some
of that moral anger I've been discussing.

197
00:09:25,030 --> 00:09:27,052
So my proposal is rather simple.

198
00:09:27,053 --> 00:09:30,469
Let's not fear free will skepticism.
Let's embrace it.

199
00:09:30,470 --> 00:09:32,953
Let's give up the belief
in free will, and with it,

200
00:09:32,954 --> 00:09:36,769
the pernicious belief in just-deserts,
that people justly deserve what they get.

201
00:09:36,770 --> 00:09:38,778
Let's leave this adequate notion behind,

202
00:09:38,779 --> 00:09:41,188
lose our moral anger
and stop blaming the victim.

203
00:09:41,189 --> 00:09:43,783
Instead, let's turn our attention
to the difficult task

204
00:09:43,784 --> 00:09:45,543
of addressing the causes that lead

205
00:09:45,544 --> 00:09:49,521
to criminality, to wealth inequity,
and educational inequity.

206
00:09:49,522 --> 00:09:52,525
Once we relinquish the belief
in free will, this will allow us

207
00:09:52,526 --> 00:09:55,635
to look more clearly at the causes
and more deeply at the systems

208
00:09:55,636 --> 00:09:57,749
that shape individuals and their behavior,

209
00:09:57,750 --> 00:10:01,149
and this will allow us to adopt
more humane and more effective policies

210
00:10:01,150 --> 00:10:03,609
in education, criminal justice,
and social policies.

211
00:10:03,610 --> 00:10:04,920
Thank you very much.

212
00:10:04,921 --> 00:10:06,210
(Applause)