Determinism and Empathy
Even when I was young, I believed that we should be sensitive to a person's circumstances before judging them for their behavior. Of course, I never thought that we could overcome the immediate, reflexive reactions we have toward others' actions. That is a challenging thing to do. But I did believe, and I still do, that we can try our best to consciously moderate how we act on our reactions. My belief that we should be empathetic has not changed, but how important I think our circumstances are have changed. I took the importance of circumstances to its logical extreme, determinism.
The determinism that I talk about in this case is the idea that, given however many conditions, if those conditions are replicated, the result will always be the same. I believe in the premise that the laws of nature are understandable and those laws act consistently with no randomness. This means that hypothetically, we could develop a complete understanding of our world and run simulations that can predict the future (In fact, the world we currently live in might even be a simulation. But that's a topic for another day). I am suggesting that given the current conditions that the world is in, the future will occur in the same way every time. I do understand that there is some kind of quantum mechanical reasonings against determinism, reasonings that I do not really understand, but those reasons against determinism do not matter in the sense that the randomness inherent to the universe does not give humans any more agency.
What I am trying to get at is that given our circumstances, we're bound to act the way we do. With this belief, I am relinquishing any responsibility from anyone for any of their actions. This is something that I grapple with often. My intuitions guide me to believe that people are responsible for their actions and that they deserve to either be praised or blamed for them. But on the other hand, my belief in determinism would seem to mean that such responsibility would be an unfair judgment to ascribe to anyone. That guy that walked a little too slowly in front of me when I was trying to get to class? That girl that was being careless and caused me to drop my laptop? The person who will (Trust me, WILL) kill me in the future? None of those people deserve any blame.
All of these examples are people who have, or will, wrong me. Whenever I come to feel any sort of frustration or anger towards someone else, I have to come to terms with my beliefs. If I genuinely do believe that people cannot do otherwise, then I really shouldn't blame anyone for anything at all. I don't think it will ever be possible for me to completely get rid of my initial reactions, but I can always try to temper them and make sure that I don't act on them. I believe that empathy is an important thing to have in this case. The more empathetic I can become, the easier it will be for me to forgive people and not judge others, I think.
Maybe this is a silly thing to believe for most people. After all, I am saying that murderers don't deserve to be punished, that rape and theft for the sake of feeding a child are actions that deserve the same amount of blame and consequently punishment, being none. While I do not think it would be practical if we are to obliterate ideas about deservedness from society, I believe that I can try to be understanding of the inequalities and circumstances in the world. I cannot claim that I would be the person I am right now if not for all the great people that have surrounded me all throughout my life. And I cannot claim that any other person, no matter how terrible they may seem, would be like that if they were lucky enough to be born into my circumstances.
Maybe all of the philosophical bullshit doesn't really matter. Given my belief in determinism, no one deserves to be praised for their good deeds either. But I will continue to think people are worthy of praise and I won't try to fight against it. And even if I think someone's deviant acts are only a result of circumstances outside of their control, I will continue to be scared of them, and I will try to justify such a person should be punished by saying that it is "pragmatic." I suppose what really matters here at the end is that I want people, including myself, to be more understanding. I wish people wouldn't be so quick to antagonize one another, to get angry, whatever it may be. I just want to be a more empathetic, kind person.
Post by Kai
The determinism that I talk about in this case is the idea that, given however many conditions, if those conditions are replicated, the result will always be the same. I believe in the premise that the laws of nature are understandable and those laws act consistently with no randomness. This means that hypothetically, we could develop a complete understanding of our world and run simulations that can predict the future (In fact, the world we currently live in might even be a simulation. But that's a topic for another day). I am suggesting that given the current conditions that the world is in, the future will occur in the same way every time. I do understand that there is some kind of quantum mechanical reasonings against determinism, reasonings that I do not really understand, but those reasons against determinism do not matter in the sense that the randomness inherent to the universe does not give humans any more agency.
What I am trying to get at is that given our circumstances, we're bound to act the way we do. With this belief, I am relinquishing any responsibility from anyone for any of their actions. This is something that I grapple with often. My intuitions guide me to believe that people are responsible for their actions and that they deserve to either be praised or blamed for them. But on the other hand, my belief in determinism would seem to mean that such responsibility would be an unfair judgment to ascribe to anyone. That guy that walked a little too slowly in front of me when I was trying to get to class? That girl that was being careless and caused me to drop my laptop? The person who will (Trust me, WILL) kill me in the future? None of those people deserve any blame.
All of these examples are people who have, or will, wrong me. Whenever I come to feel any sort of frustration or anger towards someone else, I have to come to terms with my beliefs. If I genuinely do believe that people cannot do otherwise, then I really shouldn't blame anyone for anything at all. I don't think it will ever be possible for me to completely get rid of my initial reactions, but I can always try to temper them and make sure that I don't act on them. I believe that empathy is an important thing to have in this case. The more empathetic I can become, the easier it will be for me to forgive people and not judge others, I think.
Maybe this is a silly thing to believe for most people. After all, I am saying that murderers don't deserve to be punished, that rape and theft for the sake of feeding a child are actions that deserve the same amount of blame and consequently punishment, being none. While I do not think it would be practical if we are to obliterate ideas about deservedness from society, I believe that I can try to be understanding of the inequalities and circumstances in the world. I cannot claim that I would be the person I am right now if not for all the great people that have surrounded me all throughout my life. And I cannot claim that any other person, no matter how terrible they may seem, would be like that if they were lucky enough to be born into my circumstances.
Maybe all of the philosophical bullshit doesn't really matter. Given my belief in determinism, no one deserves to be praised for their good deeds either. But I will continue to think people are worthy of praise and I won't try to fight against it. And even if I think someone's deviant acts are only a result of circumstances outside of their control, I will continue to be scared of them, and I will try to justify such a person should be punished by saying that it is "pragmatic." I suppose what really matters here at the end is that I want people, including myself, to be more understanding. I wish people wouldn't be so quick to antagonize one another, to get angry, whatever it may be. I just want to be a more empathetic, kind person.
Post by Kai
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