Hello there.
I see you clicked on the video.
I guess now you're wondering why.
Good question.
Well, first, obviously, the video had to exist for you to click on it.
So, partly, you clicked on the video, because I made the video.
But, of course, the video also needed to be shared on a public platform for you to see it and click on it
(which in this case was YouTube),
so I guess it's also because of YouTube that you clicked on the video.
But YouTube only exists, because some guys named Chad Hurley, Jawed Karim and Steve Chen
made Youtube back in 2005.
So, I guess it's because some guys named Chad, Jawed and Steve had met up in some point in their lives.
But they were really only able to create YouTube, because of the Internet
and the Internet only exists, because of the guys who invented the Internet,
whose names are Robert E. Kahn and Vint Cerf.
But they were only able to invent the Internet, because they had access to a programmable computer,
which was invented by another guy named Konrad Zuse.
Zuse invented the first programmable computer in 1938, which was built almost entirely out of thin metal sheets.
So, technically, you clicked on this video, because metal exists.
OK, so without YouTube, no video
without Internet, no YouTube
without computer, no Internet
without metal, no computer.
But, where did metal come from?
Metal is primarily found in the Earth's crust, so metal comes from the Earth,
but the Earth only exists, because of a gas cloud that spun enough to condense and produce the Sun
and the Earth several billion years ago, which happened,
because billions of years before that, the Big Bang occured to form time and space
and things to allow for things to happen
So, I guess you really only clicked on this video, because time and space and things
started 13.7 billion years ago.
But, what about you?
You must have played a role in all this.
I mean, you chose to be on YouTube, and you chose to click on this video.
Right?
Well, why did you choose to be on YouTube right now,
as opposed to nearly an infinite amount of other things you could have chosen to do with your time?
And, what causes a video to appear on your YouTube feed, or wherever else you found it?
And why did you choose to click on it, instead of scrolling past it?
And, why are you someone with access to the Internet?
And, why do you even exist as a thing, that can know what the Internet is, in the first place?
The universe is made up of atoms, that function off of cause and effect patterns.
13.7 billion years ago, the Big Bang ignited a string of events:
causes and effects, bumps and crashes, emergencies and emergence.
Where everything became everything, in an exact order, in an exact amount of time.
This sequence eventually led to the creation of a gas cloud, Earth,
metal, a guy named Konrad,
two more guys named Robert and Vint,
three more guys named Chad, Jawed and Steve,
YouTube, this video,
and you, being here on YouTube, at this exact time, with your exact brain,
all in the perfect position for you to see this video and want to click on it.
If this is true,
would that mean that all of this is predetermined?
Was I destined to create this video, you destined to see and click on it?
If right now, the universe stopped completely,
and everything dissolves back into nothing.
You, me, this video
YouTube, the Internet, planet Earth
the Sun, the Galaxy, the universe.
Everything just stopped.
And then it all started over.
The Big Bang occured all over again, just as it did 13.7 billion years ago.
In 13.7 billion years from now, would you be here,
watching the same video all over again?
If the universe functions off of cause and effect sequences, carried out by the interaction of atoms,
and you were made up of atoms, and your brain is made up of atoms, like everything else in this universe,
you exist in function, based off of cause and effect patterns.
So, if the universe started over, exactly how it did 13.7 billion years ago,
just like how knocking down dominoes placed exactly the same way,
with the same wind and temperature conditions,
would lead to the last domino falling in the exact same place, in the exact same amount of time,
every time.
In 13.7 billion years from now, all the particles of the universe would have bumped and crashed and buzzed,
in the same order, creating the same Solar system,
Sun, Earth, metal, computer, Internet,
YouTube, this video, and you, watching it.
So, after all that,
you clicked on this video, because you didn't have a choice.
Now, you might argue that if I didn't title or thumbnail this video
in this way, you wouldn't have chosen to click on it,
and, therefore, you would have had freedom of choice, because of a reason.
The reason being that you chose to click on it,
based on whether or not the tile or thumbnail provoked, or interested you.
But why did this video's title, or thumbnail, provoke, or interest, you?
And, did you have any say in it?
In general, do you decide what interests you or not?
No.
Things just do or don't.
You are free to click on this video, because you wanted to,
but you weren't free to want to click on this video.
To truly claim that you chose to click on this video on your own free will,
you would have had to have chosen whether or not you were exposed to this video,
and if its title and thumbnail would interest you, prior to even knowing that the video existed.
But you didn't do that, and you couldn't do that.
You don't know why you decided to open up YouTube,
or whatever source brought you here.
You don't know why you're interested in this video,
you don't know why you clicked on it.
You just did, because everything led you here.
Arguably, it is impossible to argue that we have freewill.
Our choices are determined by neurophysiological events in the brain,
which are determined by our genes, childhoods, and life experiences.
All of which have wired our brains in a certain way.
None of which we had any say in.
Our lifes are determined by the forces of cause and effect, that exist outside of our control.
The things that happened, that caused you to be born, you did not choose.
The things that caused you to be born to your specific parents, in a certain part of the world, you did not choose.
The things that caused you to be male or female, tall or small,
light or dark-skinned, you did not choose.
The things that have passed by you, the words you have heard,
the feeling you've experienced,
you did not choose any of it, and you cannot choose what any of it will cause you to do
and feel.
In this moment, or any other moment.
Essentally, that means, that nothing you do is really your choice.
And wouldn't that mean that there's no point in doing anything?
No point in trying?
No point in caring?
If we're no different than the atoms around and inside, of us,
operating with no control over their movements and placements in time and space,
then isn't everything we do meaningless, and not worth putting effort towards?
No,
fortunately, for us, that is not the case.
You can't truly choose who you are, or who you become,
you can't choose what happens, or has happened to you.
But you can choose what to do with it all:
how to observe it, how to experience and embrace the movement of it.
When you get in a car, you put a seatbelt on.
Or, at least, you should.
Even though you have no control over the conditions of the roads, and the other drivers on the roads,
you still put a seatbelt on.
You have no choice in the fact that you know what a seatbelt is,
as well as no choice in the feeling of fear for what not having a seatbelt might cause.
But your response to this knowledge and fear can still save your life if you are hit.
You observed the knowledge and feeling towards putting a seatbelt on, so you do.
And, if you are hit, this action can save you.
Regardless of subjective choice, you are not an inactive participant in your life.
Your participation, and actions, are necessary.
You must try,
and care.
Likewise, when you have a goal, dream, interest, passion, or curiosity,
you don't not do anything, because the universe predestined you to end up somewhere.
Instead, you follow your goals, dreams, interests, passions, and curiosities.
You respond to the world around them.
You do things,
you find out where you'll end up.
You click on the video, and you'll, hopefully, enjoy it.
Thank you for watching!
If you found enjoyment, and value, in this video, please, give it a thumbs up!
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
And if you're not already, be sure to subscribe to our channel! We are constantly coming out with new videos
to help you experience life with clarity and wonder.