240 Self and the Phenomenon of Life
b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity “9x6”to act is constrained by external forces, as is evident in a howling pig
when its four legs are tied, or in a defiant puppy put on leash for the first
time. Humans at both the individual and collective levels strive to have
this sense of fulfillment. We see this in an angry mob demonstrating for
“freedom of expression” — whatever they wish to express is a different
matter. The sense of agency promotes the affirmation of self. It is a basic
biological need on par with feeding and sex. An animal needs freedom as
much as an empty stomach needs food. This is why all animals, fish and
philosophers included, enjoy freedom.3,4
11.3 Causation, Determinism, Unpredictability,
and Surprise
The relation between determinism and free will is a tricky one, and has
been a topic of debate for hundreds of years. If on the one hand we
take the hard line by claiming that everything happening in the world at
any moment is the consequence of what happened earlier, and if on the
other hand we take the position that free will has the power to change
the natural course of the world, there would be no compromise between
the two (the incompatibilist view). One of them will have to give way, or
perhaps both will have to be modified in order to mutually accommo-
date. Is this possible?
Our concept of determinism springs from the sense of causation
in our daily life. As pointed out by David Hume, two events are caus-
ally related if one is always (empirically) followed by the other, such as
A is followed by B. Conversely, if A does not occur, B will not happen,
assuming all other causes of B are held constant. The relationship is
even more convincing if it can be quantified. For example, if one unit
of force can push a ball forward by five feet, then two units of force will
push it by ten feet. In science, causality between two events is estab-
lished by holding all other variables constant. From such observations
science formulates physical laws, which govern many causal events of
the inanimate world to a high degree of predictability. Newton’s laws of