Dick Summer Connection

I do not seem to suffer from what might be called indecent composure. A guy in a restaurant pulled my window shade down and told me he was going to kick my ass. It sparked an instant reaction in me. It’s in today’s podcast. Before I knew what I was doing, I was on my feet ready to return the favor. He said that to me in public, right in front of my Lady Wonder Wench. I think this brings up an important question. How responsible would I have been if I had hit this guy and hurt him? It was pure reaction. No thought at all, just zap, on my feet ready to fight. I never met the guy. I had nothing against him. The only thing he had against me was that I pulled my shade up and the sun was hitting his eyes. I think that brings into question the idea of free will. For my part there was no WILL of any kind involved…I just got hit with a burst of belligerence. We’re taught that intelligence is one of the things that make us different from animals. We are supposed to use our intelligence to direct our free will. But what about that simple, savage, swift, reaction that happened to me? Who’s really in charge when a reaction roars so loud you can’t hear or feel anything else? Am I really responsible for a reaction as powerful and as automatic as that? If not, what does that say about our free will? Was there really such a thing as free will involved when I suddenly found myself on my feet ready to fight? If not, if we’re not always responsible for what we do, maybe we should remember that…the next time somebody does something that doesn’t make sense. Remember it, and start building some floats for the parades celebrating the arrival of non-judgment day.

Comments are closed.