The headline of a recent Scientific American article here is Scientists say free will probably doesn't exist, but urge: "Don't stop believing!" Why “Don’t stop believing?” Well, the gist is: We don’t have free will. We are influenced by everything. Our basic beliefs are our strongest influence. If one comes to truly deeply unflinchingly believe that free will does not exist, then any kind of behavior is as good as any other. The researchers in the article found that even having someone read a single article about human behavior being determined results in measurably ‘worse’ behavior, “when people believe—or are led to believe—that free will is just an illusion, they tend to become more antisocial."
Also from the article, “…the findings reveal a rather strange dilemma facing social scientists: if a deterministic understanding of human behavior encourages antisocial behavior, how can we scientists justify communicating our deterministic research findings? In fact, there’s a rather shocking line in this Psychological Science article (one easy to overlook): If exposure to deterministic messages increases the likelihood of unethical actions, then identifying approaches for insulating the public against this danger becomes imperative. Perhaps you missed it on your first reading too, but the authors are making an extraordinary suggestion. They seem to be claiming that the public “can’t handle the truth,” and that we should somehow be protecting them (lying to them?) about the true causes of human social behaviors.”
How does this relate to Gurdjieff?
According to All & Everything, Gurdjieff’s great cosmic myth, early in our history the Higher Powers implanted a something in Mankind to make us see reality upside down, fearing that if we humans saw our real role and significance, we would commit suicide. Later, the something was removed, but its effect still continues in us. So, we believe we have many things, an indivisable “I”, consciousness, free will, etc. and blithely go along living our lives based on these beliefs. But science now is saying that there is no free will, and that if we lose our beliefs, our behavior will degenerate.
Is there a connection? Maybe, maybe not. Impossible to verify.
But Gurdjieff offers more to those who can take it in. He states that we can not “do” (no free will), we are asleep, and we have no unity. BUT, that we have the potential to develop them. He offers a “science of being.” He says, to paraphrase, Free will does not exist as we are. Do not believe. Verify for yourself. The Gurdjieff Work is a path of verification and development.
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