My Philosophy in a NutShell - e^2 (Environmental Engineering)

• The world is in crisis. It faces environmental and economic collapse. This can only be avoided by adopting a more effective world-view.
  
• Greater effectiveness comes from a better understanding of how a system works.
• My understanding of the universe is that it is impossible for free-will to exist because nothing operates independently. Everything affects everything.
• The free will that we perceive is an illusion. It comes from the infinite complexity of factors that go in to every perception or occurrence.
• Living in illusion is part of being alive. It only becomes negative when we ultimately fail to recognize it as illusion (like thinking a movie is real after you've finished viewing it).
• Our lives can not be different than they are. All choices made are predetermined, but we will never be able to accurately predict them because of the huge number of factors involved, and so the illusion of choice will always be present.
• Everyone is always doing the best that s/he can. And everyone is always following the path of least resistance, just like all forces in nature do. If you want to change behavior, you must change the path of least resistance.
• No one is responsible as an individual for their behavior because they could not act differently. But we are all responsible to each other and to society. This is unfair, but it is just the way of the world.

Answering some different/questioning view-points

• Free will comes from God - There is no evidence for the existence of a supreme being. And even if there is a God, it is very unlikely that s/he interacts in our daily lives. This is because each interaction would result in an infinite amount of consequences that would interrupt the smooth cause & effect flowing of the universe, and nothing would be predictable. And if God is powerful enough to tie up these infinite amounts of 'loose ends', why doesn't s/he use this same power to decrease suffering?
• It's obvious that we have free will - That the sun goes around the Earth is also obvious. If you have free will, then why don't you make better decisions?
• We don't have complete free will, but we do have a limited set of choices - This is wrong for all the same reasons (that independence inherent in the concept of free will is impossible), although it does represent some recognition of how behavior is shaped.
• If everything is determined, then why am I trying to make things different? Won't things just happen the way they're going to anyway ? My desire to change things is part of what is determined, just as your desire is to show you have free will. We are not just being done to by everything; we are also doing it to everything. Nothing is passive. Everything is interactive. The universe is flowing through us, as we are through it.

More evidence that free will is an illusion

• If free will existed, life would be impossible - Life can only exist in an ordered universe where relationships are not random.
• If free will existed, human behavior wouldn't be predictable.

Further implications of my world-view

• What is illusion? That free will exists. That good and evil exist. That God and the Devil exist. That anything happens randomly. That anything or one is inherently better than something/one else. That life has an inherent purpose. That anyone deserves credit or blame. That love and altruism exist.
• Everyone is completely self-centered, and this will not change.
• Everyone thinks s/he is justified in everything s/he does.
• The universe is not fair, or unfair. It just is.
• Your consciousness ends when your life does. It is a product of the complexity of your brain, and nothing more.

What can you do? / How can this help you?

• Look for patterns around you. Understand why things are the way they are. Study and support Science. See the interconnectedness of all things. Respect the horrible beauty of nature.
• Don't depend on strength of character or will in yourself, or in others. Remember, if you want to make a change, change the path of least resistance.
• Understand that everything you do or think, affects everyone else. I believe in zero guilt and infinite responsibility.
• Recognize what is illusion. That way you are more able to step out of illusion when it becomes destructive, and enjoy and experience the illusion more when it is not (just like you tell yourself when a movie becomes too scary - "It's only a movie" - It's only an illusion).
• Do what you will with another person, but never put her/him out of your heart.