In a 1930 article, Albert Einstein wrote, “A God who rewards and punishes is inconceivable to him (one who is convinced of the universal law of causation) for the single reason that a man’s actions are determined by necessity, external and internal, so in God’s eyes he cannot be responsible any more than an inanimate object is responsible for the motion it undergoes.”1
There is a deep reluctance to accept that all our thoughts are a direct result of our brain functions and that our brains are the result of evolution just as is all other organs of all organisms. This is the view of Daniel C. Dennett in his excellent book Freedom Evolves.2
The intensity of this reluctance dramatically hit home on one occasion when I attempted to discuss free will and determinism while driving in my car. The passenger in my car became visibly upset and started to issue commands for me to drive in odd ad-hoc directions. Apparently the purpose was to document that I could act in an unplanned and unpredictable manner. Since I knew that predictability and determinism are radically different concepts, I tried to calmly point out that the suggested actions would not prove anything. I was shortly astonished to find myself wrestling for the control of my steering wheel.
After I regained control I was told, “All you proved is that you are stronger than I am.” I was hardly trying to document my strength. I just wanted to keep my car and body from getting smashed by oncoming traffic.
