WEBVTT

00:00:10.267 --> 00:00:13.868
I have been thinking a lot lately
about the following question:

00:00:13.881 --> 00:00:16.794
what would happen
if we came to disbelieve in free will?

00:00:16.795 --> 00:00:19.590
What would this mean
for our interpersonal relationships,

00:00:19.591 --> 00:00:22.130
society, morality, meaning in the law?

00:00:22.131 --> 00:00:25.862
For example, would giving up the belief
in free will have dire consequences

00:00:25.863 --> 00:00:27.572
for society or something?

00:00:27.573 --> 00:00:30.107
Or would it rather have
a humanizing effect

00:00:30.108 --> 00:00:31.907
on our practices and polices,

00:00:31.908 --> 00:00:34.903
freeing us from the negative effects
of belief in free will?

00:00:34.904 --> 00:00:36.603
What I would like to propose today

00:00:36.604 --> 00:00:39.558
is that the belief in free will
rather than being a good thing

00:00:39.559 --> 00:00:42.646
actually has a dark side
and that we'd be better off without it.

00:00:42.647 --> 00:00:44.652
I know this is counterintuitive.

00:00:44.653 --> 00:00:47.598
Many people fear that life
without free will lead to nihilism,

00:00:47.599 --> 00:00:51.368
there'd be no reason to go on,
or that it would undermine morality.

00:00:51.369 --> 00:00:53.701
Or that we will just let
criminals run free

00:00:53.702 --> 00:00:56.561
since there'd be no moral responsibility.

00:00:56.562 --> 00:00:59.471
But I would like to paint
a different picture for you today.

00:00:59.472 --> 00:01:01.855
It begins with the idea
of free will skepticism.

00:01:01.856 --> 00:01:05.221
So I am a free will skeptic.
I deny the existence of free will.

00:01:05.221 --> 00:01:08.499
Free will skeptics maintain
that who we are, what we do,

00:01:08.500 --> 00:01:11.459
is ultimately the result of factors
beyond our control,

00:01:11.460 --> 00:01:12.727
and because of this,

00:01:12.728 --> 00:01:16.497
we are never morally responsible for
our actions in the basic desert sense

00:01:16.498 --> 00:01:21.003
that is the sense that would make us
truly deserving of praise and blame.

00:01:21.004 --> 00:01:24.836
Historically, there have been a number
of philosophical and scientific arguments

00:01:24.837 --> 00:01:26.166
for free will skepticism,

00:01:26.167 --> 00:01:29.100
and I've promoted
these arguments in my own work,

00:01:29.101 --> 00:01:32.493
but I'm not here today to try
to convince you that you lack free will.

00:01:32.494 --> 00:01:33.940
It's not my goal.

00:01:33.941 --> 00:01:36.704
I'm actually interested
in a slightly different question:

00:01:36.705 --> 00:01:39.369
what would happen if we came
to accept this perspective?

00:01:39.370 --> 00:01:43.196
What would happen, practically speaking,
if we came to disbelieve in free will?

00:01:43.197 --> 00:01:46.217
Would it be, on the whole,
a good thing or a bad thing?

00:01:46.218 --> 00:01:48.391
And it's here that I'm an optimist.

00:01:48.392 --> 00:01:51.390
I am optimistic about the prospects
of life without free will.

00:01:51.391 --> 00:01:53.354
I call myself an optimistic skeptic.

00:01:53.355 --> 00:01:55.830
As an optimistic skeptic,

00:01:55.831 --> 00:01:57.720
I maintain that life without free will

00:01:57.721 --> 00:01:59.951
is not only possible
but that it's preferable.

00:01:59.952 --> 00:02:01.769
Prospects of finding meaning in life

00:02:01.770 --> 00:02:04.739
and sustaining good interpersonal
relationships, for example,

00:02:04.740 --> 00:02:06.179
would not be threatened.

00:02:06.180 --> 00:02:08.107
Although certain systems of punishment

00:02:08.108 --> 00:02:11.026
like those based on the model
of retribution or just deserts

00:02:11.027 --> 00:02:12.326
would be ruled out;

00:02:12.327 --> 00:02:15.810
preventive detention and rehabilitation
programs would still be justified.

00:02:15.811 --> 00:02:18.322
I will say a little bit more
about these in a moment.

00:02:18.323 --> 00:02:20.119
So as an optimistic skeptic,

00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:24.549
I maintain that life without free will
may actually be good for our well being,

00:02:24.550 --> 00:02:26.201
and our relationships with others,

00:02:26.202 --> 00:02:29.701
since it could tend to eradicate
an often destructive form of moral anger,

00:02:29.702 --> 00:02:31.274
a kind of moral anger

00:02:31.275 --> 00:02:35.314
that's corrosive to our relationships
and to our social policies.

00:02:35.315 --> 00:02:39.453
So to better understand
the dark side of free will,

00:02:39.454 --> 00:02:41.359
what I want to do is just talk about

00:02:41.367 --> 00:02:44.328
some recent empirical work
in moral political physiology.

00:02:44.329 --> 00:02:46.781
What this work has done has actually shown

00:02:46.782 --> 00:02:50.581
that there is a number of interesting
and potentially troubling correlations

00:02:50.582 --> 00:02:52.321
between the belief in free will

00:02:52.322 --> 00:02:55.041
and people's other moral religious
and political beliefs.

00:02:55.042 --> 00:02:58.418
In particular, what they found is
that free will beliefs are correlated

00:02:58.434 --> 00:03:01.567
with higher levels
of religiosity, punitiveness,

00:03:01.568 --> 00:03:04.075
and a number of conservative
beliefs in attitude,

00:03:04.076 --> 00:03:06.795
such as just world belief
and right wing authoritarianism.

00:03:06.796 --> 00:03:09.136
I am only going to focus on
two of these today,

00:03:09.137 --> 00:03:12.555
that is the connection between the belief
in free will and punitiveness,

00:03:12.556 --> 00:03:16.295
and that between the belief in free will
and what's called just world belief.

00:03:16.296 --> 00:03:18.802
So we take punitiveness for example.

00:03:18.803 --> 00:03:22.384
What this research has shown is
that where believe in free will is strong,

00:03:22.385 --> 00:03:24.064
as we see increased punitiveness,

00:03:24.065 --> 00:03:27.433
that is people are more likely to call
for harsher forms of punishment

00:03:27.434 --> 00:03:29.143
in a number of different scenarios.

00:03:29.144 --> 00:03:32.137
And this makes sense:
if you think people possess free will,

00:03:32.138 --> 00:03:35.972
then you believe they justly deserve to
be praised and blamed for their actions.

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?

00:03:40.029 --> 00:03:42.094
It's very close
to a notion of retribution:

00:03:42.095 --> 00:03:45.826
you want to inflict harm on them
for the harm they've inflicted on others.

00:03:45.827 --> 00:03:48.827
But the downside of this is, again,
you can create a moral anger

00:03:48.827 --> 00:03:53.141
that's destructive to our relationships
with others and to our social policies.

00:03:53.142 --> 00:03:55.556
So consider this on a macro level,

00:03:55.557 --> 00:03:59.726
belief in free will is relatively strong
in the United States.

00:03:59.727 --> 00:04:01.907
In fact, it's built right
into the mythology

00:04:01.908 --> 00:04:05.001
of the rugged individual,
the self-made man, the causa Sui,

00:04:05.022 --> 00:04:07.881
the person that can pull themselves up
from the bootstraps

00:04:07.882 --> 00:04:10.041
and overcome all
of their life circumstances.

00:04:10.042 --> 00:04:12.319
But because we are
so committed to this belief,

00:04:12.320 --> 00:04:14.789
we are also a relatively punitive society.

00:04:14.790 --> 00:04:16.988
Consider this one simple fact:

00:04:16.988 --> 00:04:20.310
the United States makes up about 5%
of the world's population,

00:04:20.310 --> 00:04:23.604
yet it incarcerates
25% of the world's prisoners.

00:04:23.605 --> 00:04:26.654
I will say that again
because it's a rather startling statistic:

00:04:26.655 --> 00:04:30.384
we make up a relatively small sliver
of the world's population, about 5%,

00:04:30.385 --> 00:04:33.950
but we house and imprison
25% of the world's prisoners.

00:04:33.951 --> 00:04:37.870
I don't think it's controversial to say
our criminal justice system is broken.

00:04:37.871 --> 00:04:41.657
It is not working, not making us safer,
it's not reducing crime,

00:04:41.658 --> 00:04:44.394
it's, by no means, achieving
our desired social goals,

00:04:44.395 --> 00:04:47.798
and it is not reducing the rate
of recidivism, that is repeat crime.

00:04:47.799 --> 00:04:51.463
But just perhaps, if we adopt
the skeptical perspective,

00:04:51.464 --> 00:04:55.743
we might be able to adopt more effective,
and more humane policies.

00:04:55.744 --> 00:04:57.804
So let me just briefly sketch quickly

00:04:57.805 --> 00:05:00.894
how a free will skeptic
might address criminal behavior.

00:05:00.895 --> 00:05:03.527
There's a professor
- not too far from here,

00:05:03.534 --> 00:05:06.468
his name is Derek Pereboom,
he teaches at Cornell University;

00:05:06.470 --> 00:05:08.440
he's a free will skeptic, like myself -

00:05:08.441 --> 00:05:11.308
and he proposes a model
for dealing with dangerous criminals

00:05:11.309 --> 00:05:14.098
based on analogy with quarantine.

00:05:14.099 --> 00:05:18.025
So people who contract contagious diseases
do so for no fault of their own,

00:05:18.026 --> 00:05:20.883
they're not morally responsible
for having done so;

00:05:20.884 --> 00:05:23.073
we don't think they
deserve to be punished.

00:05:23.074 --> 00:05:24.487
But we do feel justified

00:05:24.488 --> 00:05:27.347
in quarantining those individuals
for the safety of society.

00:05:27.348 --> 00:05:29.983
Well, we can say the same thing
for dangerous criminals

00:05:29.984 --> 00:05:32.936
that is even you adopted
the perspective that I am advocating,

00:05:32.937 --> 00:05:35.926
and you believe that individuals
are not ultimately responsible

00:05:35.927 --> 00:05:37.306
for becoming who they are,

00:05:37.307 --> 00:05:41.013
we could still justify detaining those
individuals for the safety of society.

00:05:41.014 --> 00:05:44.061
But if we did this, this would entail
a number of major reforms,

00:05:44.062 --> 00:05:47.660
all of which I think are actually
really important and good.

00:05:47.661 --> 00:05:49.443
For one, we'd have the duty

00:05:49.444 --> 00:05:52.013
to the well-being
and rehabilitation of criminals,

00:05:52.014 --> 00:05:53.654
just like you would have a duty

00:05:53.655 --> 00:05:56.244
to treat the person
in quarantine for their disease.

00:05:56.245 --> 00:05:59.171
Secondly,

00:06:02.731 --> 00:06:05.930
you couldn't treat those individuals
cruelly while being detained,

00:06:05.931 --> 00:06:10.262
just like you couldn't treat cruelly
the people we are holding in quarantine.

00:06:10.263 --> 00:06:13.318
Thirdly, if there are less severe
forms of punishment available,

00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:16.160
we'd have to opt for
those less severe forms of punishment

00:06:16.161 --> 00:06:19.414
and that might entail rethinking
some of our harsher sentencing laws,

00:06:19.415 --> 00:06:22.614
and some of our crueler forms
of punishment in super max prisons.

00:06:22.615 --> 00:06:23.675
And lastly,

00:06:23.676 --> 00:06:27.135
if you are someone like myself,
you think it's the causal circumstances

00:06:27.136 --> 00:06:29.375
that drive these behaviors
in the first place,

00:06:29.376 --> 00:06:32.545
then free will skeptics would put
their money, resources and focus

00:06:32.546 --> 00:06:35.345
on addressing the systemic causes
that lead to criminality:

00:06:35.346 --> 00:06:37.407
wealth, inequality, educational inequity.

00:06:37.408 --> 00:06:39.678
So instead of blaming people
and punishing them,

00:06:39.679 --> 00:06:43.488
on the tail-end, you'd try to prevent
the criminal behavior in the first place.

00:06:43.489 --> 00:06:44.843
(Applause)

00:06:44.844 --> 00:06:46.004
Thank you.

00:06:46.005 --> 00:06:50.534
Not only do I think free will skeptics can
deal successfully with criminal behaviors,

00:06:50.535 --> 00:06:53.396
I think they could do so
more humanely and more effectively.

00:06:53.397 --> 00:06:55.974
So let me switch over
to the other belief I mentioned:

00:06:55.975 --> 00:06:58.911
belief in free will has also been shown
through this research

00:06:58.912 --> 00:07:01.469
to correlate with what is known
as just world belief.

00:07:01.470 --> 00:07:02.597
So what is it?

00:07:02.598 --> 00:07:05.340
Fundamentally, it is the belief
that the world is just,

00:07:05.341 --> 00:07:08.935
good things happen to good people,
and bad things happen to bad people.

00:07:08.936 --> 00:07:12.383
But also, fundamentally,
it's a blame-the-victim approach

00:07:12.384 --> 00:07:15.451
since it maintains that individuals
justly deserve what they get,

00:07:15.452 --> 00:07:19.206
and that those who meet misfortune
have often brought it them on themselves.

00:07:19.207 --> 00:07:23.637
In the 1960s, psychologists developed
what is known as just world belief scale.

00:07:23.638 --> 00:07:26.907
It was meant to design people's commitment
to this type of belief,

00:07:26.908 --> 00:07:30.749
but it was also particularly designed to
capture the natural tendency people have

00:07:30.750 --> 00:07:33.839
to blame those who meet misfortune
for their own circumstances.

00:07:33.840 --> 00:07:38.613
Over the years, what they found
is that high scores on this belief,

00:07:38.614 --> 00:07:41.903
correlate with the likelihood
of derogating innocent victims,

00:07:41.904 --> 00:07:44.767
trusting current institutions
and authorities,

00:07:44.768 --> 00:07:48.177
and blaming the poor and praising
the rich for their respective faiths.

00:07:48.178 --> 00:07:51.197
As I said, this is essentially
a blame-the-victim approach;

00:07:51.198 --> 00:07:53.955
you can see manifestations
of it all throughout society.

00:07:53.956 --> 00:07:55.271
One of the more pernicious

00:07:55.272 --> 00:07:58.351
is the tendency, both among
ordinary folk and the legal system,

00:07:58.352 --> 00:08:00.781
to blame rape victims
for their own circumstances.

00:08:00.782 --> 00:08:01.942
So if the world is just,

00:08:01.943 --> 00:08:05.622
and good things happen to good people,
and bad things happen to bad people,

00:08:05.623 --> 00:08:08.391
to try to reconcile
such a horrific act as rape

00:08:08.392 --> 00:08:10.773
while preserving the belief
that the world is just,

00:08:10.773 --> 00:08:13.565
you turn that innocent victim
into somebody that's guilty.

00:08:13.566 --> 00:08:15.305
They were dressed provocatively,

00:08:15.306 --> 00:08:17.974
they were walking
where they shouldn't had been walking.

00:08:17.975 --> 00:08:20.556
Another manifestation
of this blame-the-victim approach

00:08:20.557 --> 00:08:22.206
could be seen throughout society.

00:08:22.207 --> 00:08:25.349
For example, blaming those in poverty
for their own circumstances.

00:08:25.350 --> 00:08:27.797
Claiming that those on welfare
are lazy or mooches.

00:08:27.798 --> 00:08:31.347
Or blaming educational inequity on
the children and the parents themselves.

00:08:31.348 --> 00:08:34.765
But we all know, at least on a more
rational deliberate moment,

00:08:34.765 --> 00:08:36.385
that the world is not just,

00:08:36.385 --> 00:08:39.107
and that the lottery of life
is not always fair.

00:08:39.109 --> 00:08:42.048
We need to acknowledge the role
that luck plays in our lives,

00:08:42.049 --> 00:08:44.479
who we are, and how we turn out, right?

00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:47.063
We don't all have equal starting points.

00:08:47.064 --> 00:08:49.434
As I said in the beginning,
I'm an optimist,

00:08:49.435 --> 00:08:52.587
I am optimistic that if we could adopt
this skeptical perspective,

00:08:52.588 --> 00:08:54.157
we may be able to free ourselves

00:08:54.158 --> 00:08:56.589
from some of these beliefs
and harmful tendencies.

00:08:56.590 --> 00:08:58.889
In fact, there was
a recent study that came out

00:08:58.890 --> 00:09:00.835
in the Journal of Psychological Science

00:09:00.836 --> 00:09:03.605
that found that by reducing
people's beliefs in free will,

00:09:03.606 --> 00:09:05.402
it actually made them less punitive,

00:09:05.403 --> 00:09:09.269
and call for less harsh forms of treatment
in a number of hypothetical scenarios.

00:09:09.270 --> 00:09:12.622
This tells me two things: one,
it reaffirms what I was saying earlier,

00:09:12.623 --> 00:09:16.150
that where believe in free will is strong
as we see increased punitiveness,

00:09:16.151 --> 00:09:17.839
but it also provides hopes to me

00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:21.598
that we can perhaps relinquish ourselves
on some of these more harmful beliefs

00:09:21.599 --> 00:09:25.029
and by doing so, loose some
of that moral anger I've been discussing.

00:09:25.030 --> 00:09:27.052
So my proposal is rather simple.

00:09:27.053 --> 00:09:30.469
Let's not fear free will skepticism.
Let's embrace it.

00:09:30.470 --> 00:09:32.953
Let's give up the belief
in free will, and with it,

00:09:32.954 --> 00:09:36.769
the pernicious belief in just-deserts,
that people justly deserve what they get.

00:09:36.770 --> 00:09:38.778
Let's leave this adequate notion behind,

00:09:38.779 --> 00:09:41.188
lose our moral anger
and stop blaming the victim.

00:09:41.189 --> 00:09:43.783
Instead, let's turn our attention
to the difficult task

00:09:43.784 --> 00:09:45.543
of addressing the causes that lead

00:09:45.544 --> 00:09:49.521
to criminality, to wealth inequity,
and educational inequity.

00:09:49.522 --> 00:09:52.525
Once we relinquish the belief
in free will, this will allow us

00:09:52.526 --> 00:09:55.635
to look more clearly at the causes
and more deeply at the systems

00:09:55.636 --> 00:09:57.749
that shape individuals and their behavior,

00:09:57.750 --> 00:10:01.149
and this will allow us to adopt
more humane and more effective policies

00:10:01.150 --> 00:10:03.609
in education, criminal justice,
and social policies.

00:10:03.610 --> 00:10:04.920
Thank you very much.

00:10:04.921 --> 00:10:06.210
(Applause)