Do humans have free will?
That question has puzzled philosophers for millennia and has generated fierce debates. Perhaps the only thing more contentious than the question are the implications of its answer. If man has no free will, then how can there be moral responsibility?
But don’t worry, dear frazzled philosophers! You can now rest your weary heads, because the question is about to be answered once and for all by the wizards of Silicon Valley.
What on earth am I talking about? To answer this question, let’s turn to Declare Your Independence, the radio show of Ernie Hancock of FreedomsPhoenix.com. Recently, Ernie had a fascinating conversation with Paul Rosenberg of FreemansPerspective.com. What makes the conversation fascinating is how quickly it turns from a dialogue about online censorship in the wake of the Christchurch shooting to a Rosenberg rant about the most important issue of our time:
“You need to protect your data to protect your own free will. I’m sorry if that sounds dramatic. I’m sorry if that sounds like I’m trying to be scary and all that, but that’s just the truth and somebody should say it!”
So how do we get from online censorship to the end of free will (assuming we ever really had it)?
Find out how the Big Tech giants are seeking to “solve” the “problem” of human free will once and for all in this week’s edition of The Corbett Report Subscriber. For full access to the subscriber newsletter, and to support this website, please become a member.
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The Corbett Report Subscriber
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vol 9 issue 12 (March 23, 2019)
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by James Corbett Do humans have free will? That question has puzzled philosophers for millennia and has generated fierce debates. Perhaps the only thing more contentious than the question are the implications of its answer. If man has no free will, then how can there be moral responsibility? But don’t worry, dear frazzled philosophers! You can now rest your weary heads because the question is about to be answered once and for all by the wizards of Silicon Valley. What on earth am I talking about? To answer that question, let’s turn to Declare Your Independence, the radio show of Ernie Hancock of FreedomsPhoenix.com. Recently, Ernie had a fascinating conversation with Paul Rosenberg of FreemansPerspective.com. What’s fascinating about their discussion is how quickly the conversation turns from a dialogue about online censorship in the wake of the Christchurch shooting to Rosenberg ranting about the most important issue of our time: “You need to protect your data to protect your own free will. I’m sorry if that sounds dramatic. I’m sorry if that sounds like I’m trying to be scary and all that, but that’s just the truth and somebody should say it!” So how do we get from online censorship to the end of free will (assuming we ever really had it)? By way of Google’s selfish ledger, of course. For those who may have missed it, “The Selfish Ledger” is an internal Google video that was leaked to The Verge last year, and it’s just about the creepiest thing imaginable. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a moment to watch it now. In his article on the selfish ledger, Rosenberg summarizes the video thusly:
This is not an exaggeration. This is literally the message of the video. Whether or not you believe yourself to be a mere “container” acting as a “transient carrier” of data or, you know, a pesky ontological object like a free human being with a soul, the video provides some serious food for thought. It is obviously the case that we are shaped by our experiences, and our past experiences (the data that Google tracks) help to determine our responses to future challenges. Over time, and given enough analytical horsepower, whoever tracks the data trail you leave behind (the places you go, the people you meet, the things you buy, the conversations you have, the questions you ask, the choices you make) can not only predict how you will act in the future; they can determine why you will act that way. And if they have that insight—the knowledge of what makes you tick, as it were—then it’s not difficult to start using that knowledge to prompt you in one direction or another. And, over time, if you can be prompted to make choices along a certain path, you can end up at a predetermined destination, one that you yourself never set out to reach. In short, if we are nothing but biological robots reacting to stimuli along predictable paths, then we can have our software re-programmed by an outside agent that is tailoring those stimuli for each individual. And, as this video announces, Google would like to be that agent. Now this “Selfish Ledger” is Google’s video, so the idea seems like it’s Google’s alone, but of course this is not the case. All of the major tech companies are operating from similar principles. This is why Facebook conducted its infamous “mood experiment” to see how tinkering with a person’s news feed could alter their feelings. It’s why Instagram is blocking “anti-vaccine” hashtags. It’s why Twitter and Facebook (and everyone else) is collecting data on everyone, even non-users, at all times. Heck, it’s why I now listen to Radiohead. We are being shaped, our experiences directed, our choices made for us each and every day. And whether or not you ever believed in free will, there can be no doubt that as the cell doors close on our technological prison we have less and less say over our own decisions. There are things we can do to help mitigate this, of course. We can take online privacy seriously and really commit to not giving these companies any identifiable data that can be associated with us individually. But after seeing what it takes to really accomplish this, most will decide that it’s not worth the hassle. We can try disconnecting from technology. Leaving our smartphone at home instead of taking it everywhere we go. Deleting our social media accounts. Going back to phone calls and in-person chats over texting and email. But more and more, our jobs (not to mention our social lives) depend on being online and accessible through the very types of social media services we are seeking to avoid. There are little things that we can do to stop being controlled by our gadgets. Make a conscious effort to not click on the next “recommended video” or “you might also like” article. Turn off notifications. Disable location services. Stop Googling every question we have and stop plugging our ears with earphones at all times. But do these little actions make a difference in the long run? And in the end, perhaps it’s not even our choice anymore (if it ever was). As a recent MIT study demonstrated, they need the DNA of only a small percentage of the public in order to trace the relationships between the entire population. Similarly, you don’t have to be on Facebook yourself in order for Zuckerberg and his minions to know all about you; as long as all your friends (or some percentage) are on there, chances are you’re in the Facebook database as a “shadow profile.” So, unless you’re the Unabomber living on bugs and rainwater in some cabin in the woods, you’re in the matrix one way or another. And unless all of us as a society start asking and answering the hard questions about autonomy and free will in the age of total surveillance, there’s a good chance our children (or our children’s children) will be nothing more than “transient carriers” for data that is being fed to you by the Big Tech monopolies. After all, what choice do we have? |
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[supsystic-price-table id=59]
Creepy, yeah.
But when they say…
“In this case, the ledger is missing a key data source which it requires in order to better understand this user. In order to plug the gap in its knowledge the ledger begins searching for a device which delivers the required data when used. From this list the ledger begins sorting the
options most likely to appeal to the user in question….”
it sounds very similar to the obnoxious changes currently being undertaken by Microsoft/Skype/Facebook/Whatsapp (FAANG) etc.
where they are now forcing you to cough up extra phone numbers, e-mail addresses and other personal data in the guise of “protecting you”.
When you log into their apps, they are now saying, “in order to protect you should you ever be locked out of your account we will now take more personal data from you.
But don’t worry it’s only for your personal protection!
BTW, you must give us this information. You can give it to us now, or wait one more week, at which time you will have no other choice!”
As a FAANG+ VESSEL Vassal,
I spent an hour reading, re-reading and following links to this article “Do Humans Have Free Will? Not If Big Tech Wins! so that I could firmly embed the imprinted awareness and relative importance on my LEDGER.
The Ledger.
The Ledger ‘lives on’, even after the container departs.
The 7th Day…
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.
And on the 8th day…
FAANG+ created The Ledger so that all will be good.
I would like to suggest the VIDEO rendition of this “Do Humans Have Free Will” article…
James Corbett gives an emphatic visual overview on 3/21 in “Interview 1427 – Financial Survival in the Demographic Crunch”.
QUEUED VIDEO (10 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRADcCSr6A4&feature=youtu.be&t=1m14s
Like some have mentioned, this Ledger scenario is really creepy.
Example(s)…
Sometimes, the eyesight vision of looking at myself for examples is a bit foggy, as compared to viewing others in action.
Many of the employees I work with are under 30, if not under 25.
A large portion have some kind of police record, mostly drug related.
Being over 65, I enjoy working with them. They with me.
No judgement, no ‘personal evaluation of another’. Friends.
For the most part, I’m cool with ‘filling in the gaps’ by many times quietly working to make up for some of the irresponsible work ethics on certain chores…I chalk it up to the “irresponsibility of youth”.
You know…”Fandango”.
(20 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBYYjJa-rqU
(Actually, “Fandango” has many real elements for characterizing Texas youth in 1971, despite some of the hyperboles in the movie. But hyperboles are part of Texas.)
Throughout the day, these fellow employees are on their phone, primarily watching videos and browsing.
There is no concern for ‘being monitored, nor spied on’.
Often I overhear, or they share, video content.
It is interesting to see how they are often “guided”.
One brief sampling the other day…
The day starts with a couple of the guys eating their magic brownies.
One guy shows me this clip he found very funny. In the video…A guy was passed out on the bed. The camera holder threw cheese, then bologna, then mayonnaised bread onto the sleeping guys face, “making a sandwich”. (While it didn’t strike my humor bone, I understood. I remember some of my old High School pranks.)
Then later, another employee shares a video of doing the “cheese on the face” antic, but the victim was a surprised dog. He thought it was funny. I reacted…”Oh man! That poor dog!” Since, I didn’t think it was funny, I guess it killed their video line-up.
While the above was a brief, maybe poor, sampling, I do notice the trails of topics where these guys go throughout the week.
FAANG+ will? or Free Will?
I tend to think the first.
Homey, the anecdotal stories are a pleasure to hear and set the imagination into gear. Probably just to beg the question I fear.
Do you suppose , given the jist of Corbett’s article and your observations of these young mens ” monitoring or spied on trail” will be for evaluation and placements for ” jobs” ” uses” suited to their ledger in the future. The value to corporate will certainly create a market for evaluating human capitol in the future. If its there they* will use it only to their* advantage and detriment to labor. Seems like an infringement to ones privacy with malfeasance.
Has the value of labor been bleached out of them so thoroughly they have no self esteem? Bless the beasts and the children.
* The Powers That Shouldn’t Be
On last thing Homey. Ultimately what Im trying to picture here is the clash of old ideas. The Corporate Will opposing and subjugating Free Will. It reminds me of the continuation of the struggle of the aristocratic Junkers and the serfs of East Prussia. Eugenics to maintain order and protect place and hierarchy. Dogma sick Dogma.
GeneralBW,
Ya know…sometimes, I really don’t know what to think nor predict.
Like many of us older farts know, during the period of our young adulthood there were trends and ideas which we followed. These often brought protest and alarm from the older generation.
As a late teen, I remember once having a discussion with my Uncle while he sipped his whisky at the kitchen table trying to cope with my concepts on “work”. I had this odd hippie type idea that I should not have to work, that I shouldn’t need to perform labor. Go figure on that one?…I can’t even believe that I once had such a concept.
I was working for him one summer at his Lake Resort Cabin acreage in Minnesota. Part of my routine was to clean the beach of dead fish and seaweed, early every morning. Then on to other chores. Many times, I did the work unethusiastically, but I couldn’t wait until quitting time…and then energetically go out with my new friends or a hot date.
Looking back, I should had appreciated the experience and training and adventure more than I did.
On his property, stood an old, two story brothel house from the 30’s. Small walk-in closet type rooms, with carved graffiti on the wood planked walls and doors. “Come in Suzie” “Hole up here” , some pieces of clever wit, poems, and of course, some non-repeatables.
GBW,
What’s your take on how things might be in a decade or two?
For me, it gets hazy, kind of like a few hours after a chemtrail spray.
Homey, I’ll be 74 or 84 respectively and may be spent by then. Im like the French painter Corbet of the realism school. Recording accurately the truth of whatever. I believe in observation, the scientific process of Aristotle. A rose is much prettier in reality than a story about a rose, and a picture of a rose is worth a thousand words but in reality it will never be a rose. With that in mind the future is not shaping up for how I was trained nor intuited the world by, for lack of a better Bacon English word, God.
Richard Grove is a doer. Corbett is a thinker. I put more value in altering our trajectory with a doer than a thinker. That to me is the American exceptualism that gives me hope that its not over till the fat lady sings.
Don’t get me wrong about James Corbett. We will need brilliant minds like his and an open acceptance of cooperation without regard to nationalistic bias, to change the trajectory that we are on. My opinion of the Japanese is they don’t cotton trouble makers on their shore when push comes to shove. We are well behind the curve in the grand scheme of things. We have the same enemy that the French had at the Bastile. We have the same enemy as we had in WW1 but we were fighting the wrong people on the field. We have the same enemy who created the enemy we fought in WW2. You know by now who that is. They invited the Nazi into our country after hostilities ended and Ike new and warned us, like Quigley did without risking his life. Need I mention Kennedy. These people he spoke of are vicious and have been at it a long time and are not accustom to ever loosing the war, only a battle here or there. Largess sets them apart. We are small thinkers, but large hearted creatures and they fear us.
So Homey, with some background now I will directly answer your question. We are transitioning into everything Corbett has been reporting on in the last 12 years. I expect it will be totalitarian, racist, highly technical divisions in society, that something like the ledger will be used to judge,by A.I. what income, function and roll you will be assigned. Probably there will be a world wide conflict that will usher in the new way on this shore. Communism at the worst or socio-technocracy at the least. From the American continent will come either one of two things, in 20 years, compitulation to the BIS to restructure or revolt. The banksters want a model to continue the matrix they have designed but with less population and less resistance to servitude. A hybrid of some of what exists today but with serious authoritarian controls on behavior. No freedom of thought or deed will occur. They have never been as the focal point, physically confronted, or prosecuted as a group have they? They work in and from the shadows very effectively. They could be accused and the source of legends, from many times and many cultures, of being the Devil himself. Nothing new under the sun here. History repeats and I base my guess on past human behavior.
https://youtu.be/QVYkmV7w-uE
Here is a taste of banksters in action.
Deutsche Bank. Soon to be bank of the EU.
generalbottlewasher
On Astroturf… I have heard that Occupy Wallstreet was incorporated by the Lucis Trust, or at least by people closely tied to that organization.
It was kinda a thing going round on Youtube back then but I never went and looked up the doc’s myself and only have their screenshots for evidencnce.
GBW,
That is a well written piece you did.
Covered a lot of ground.
Thanks.
I’m watching the “Deutsche Bank Despite Trump’s Bankruptcies” now.
Homey, I can’t find the article nor can I remember who posted it recently but it was very informative. It was about the dialog of give and take and that we should not fall into a trap. The jist was when the conversation goes from what do you think too Whose side are you on. I distinctly remember when Dubya Bush said ” you are either with us or against us” I knew that we where in new territory. That is my first recollection of waking up. I must guard against slipping into that trap of framing and discrediting ideas as being perceived to be on the wrong side therefore invalid. So much to unlearn. Paradoxes, good… Par, good…?????
“…We have the same enemy that the French had at the Bastile. …”
My understanding is that the French revolution was the first example of an Astro-turf movement… at least that was a popular idea in ye olde dayes of conspiracy theory like Nesta Helen Webster though I’ve not yet read her books so I’m just going off what others say.
Duck, that rambling bit on the French , was a cryptic jab at the ideals of Governors of the Bank of International Settlements. The BIS charter proposes that sovereignty claims by the bank et.al
trumps all others claim to the same. No laws made by men apply to their actions. The mendacity in this claim will certainly be meet someday, with a similar response, revolt, like that given to the like minded aristocrats of France on July 14th way back when.
I suppose its about ownership of free will ?
Duck,What is an astro-turf movement mean?
Duck I see what you mean. What a political trick.
James,
Someone such as yourself can take all the privacy measures you want, but here you are, having created a website and provided your thoughts on all kinds of topics that Google can use to profile you. It’s a double edged sword, but worth the risks. For example, I probably wouldn’t be here reading your blog about how big data wants to control me, and then taking actions to stop them from gathering data on me.
Funny stuff about nothing
On April 1, Muller wanted to reveal that the Russia thing
was just a big joke.
Now he is a week early with his reveal, because almost everyone fell for it.
It is also the end of the Qanon-Joke,
because there are no secret indictments.
But this has been the biggest 1 april joke ever
https://i.imgur.com/TKKMsiY.jpg
The burger, as quoted to Project Veritas
Here is a video by WeAreChange
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4ijqyqZpWM
They still claim, without any evidence, that Russia had
“hacked” the DNC via an extremely fast internet connection.
That Wikileaks was lying about getting leaks.
And Russians manipulated us with sites like the Corbett Report.
“They” influence us with alternative opinions outside the 2 parties.
And that is of course against the “values” of the US.
Values of billions to trillions of dollars.
Its crazy how so many fell for that again.
How the media is a big joke:
https://i.imgur.com/GMLnLrj.png
AP, AGP and Reuters are fully controlled by CIA & Pentagon.
The media is controlled by a small group, who are connected with
the CIA and/or Israel.
https://i.imgur.com/fYCXayC.png
The Thinkery/ Sargon of Akkad having a laugh on the media:
https://www.bitchute.com/video/xyaA3oAwXBM/
It starts with the russian-collusion-song.
And lists many of the lies that were told.
Are the Russians still “influencing” you?
https://i.imgur.com/nQoUjUy.jpg
How Trump and others can be put in prison..
Supporting the bombing of countries and civilians.
Colluding with Saudi Arabia
Colluding with Israel
Influencing foreign governments
Support for (illegal) assassinations
But almost everyone in US government is doing that.
“Democracy” is the biggest joke.
About Mueller
The Great Deceptions of Robert Mueller: The Art of the Limited Hangout
https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracyfact/comments/b57cly/the_great_deceptions_of_robert_mueller_the_art_of/
The writer explains all the deceptions that mueller has taken part
in.
“Limited hangouts” are the norm and the media supports the necessary narrative to help people evade accountability as part of a larger “protection racket.”
“Why are Britain and Russia working together for a monopoly on Uranium?”
“But John Podesta also has his own personal media whipping boy. David Brock. David Brock runs Media Matters, who was writing apologetics for the Uranium One deal as early as 2008. Maybe earlier. John Podesta, who takes Russian money, then funnels that money to the Center for American Progress, which funds David Brock’s projects.”
“Robert Mueller has been an integral cog in a wheel of deception that is designed to let the worst criminals walk free. This has been going on for your entire life. This has been going on throughout all of human history. Only now, we have the technology to implement transparency.”
Funny meme
How many Russians?
http://magaimg.net/img/7kyj.png
Dear James, I am expecting to receive two DVDs(BIG OIL and Century of Enslavement) that I have ordered. I believe the payment process through Paypal has been completed on March 3. I like your analysis. Cheers.
[SNIP – No addresses on the website please. Your order will be delivered this week. -JC]
British accents are often considered to sound classier or smarter… kinda like smoking a pipe, having glasses or growing a beard are said to make people have a higger estimation of a persons intelligence.
You should remember that most people watching it internally are prob just shallow narcissist types such as populate management at most big organizations.
luckily people are not so smart… it will like as not break down before that under the weight of the stupid people trying to micromanage everything or fighting over who will be in charge…. unless this IS the End Times….?
Speaking of Censorship I’ll bump this Corbett Report Interview up again as parts of the Corbett Report Website are being censored in Australia now (Bitchute embedded videos, depending on which ISP)
https://www.corbettreport.com/the-censorship-solution-with-michael-dean/
Octium, Thanks for the regional update.
About a month ago, at times, I started noticing that it takes longer for Corbett’s website to first appear.
There are probably not many Corbett Report Subscribers from Australia however I have noticed that the powers-that-shouldn’t-be tend to use Australia as a testing ground first before implementing their plans in other places.
So I don’t imagine it will take long for the censorship to spread around the Pacific with the level of propaganda being spread around now over their attack in NZ.
Apparently it’s OK for Government to kill Muslims on mass, but not OK for individuals to do it as a hobby.
I did notice a slight speedup after using a VPN to access this website, with the added bonus a having a chuckle after forgetting about the VPN and receiving adverts for weird Japanese products (on other websites of course!)
Most browsers have a “Web Development” menu hidden away somewhere that can show the download times for each item that is being fetched across the network, often I find that it is not the main site that is slow, but something being pulled from elsewhere, like Google’s big brother tracking.
That’s a funny line… 😉
“Apparently it’s OK for Government to kill Muslims on mass, but not OK for individuals to do it as a hobby.”
MBP, That may be the scariest thing I’ve ever seen ! Good find.