The most powerful chimaera

Free will is an illusion.

Nothing like starting a new post with a bang, isn’t it?

If you understand the most basic principles of non-dualism or headlessness, you know that’s true. There is no alternative.

What is probably more surprising is that many scientists also agree. The psychologist Bruce Hood, who specialises in cognitive neuroscience, wrote a whole book about it in 2012, “The Self Illusion—Why There is No ‘You’ Inside Your Head”.1 It’s a fascinating read.

Many scientific experiments also demonstrate that our actions start before any conscious decisions are made. In other words, the decision to start reading this very post, for example, happened before you consciously decided to do it. By using brain imaging technology, it was possible to establish that a physical action starts happening up to 10 seconds before any awareness of it.2

Everything we do happens unconsciously. That’s not really surprising when you understand that there is no subject. The ‘I’ is an illusion, a powerful chimaera. There is no person inside your head deciding anything.

Of course, such statements always cause controversy. There are thousands of papers and studies about free will contradicting each other. Many philosophical and religious stances depend on free will being real—otherwise, they would crumble into dust.

I’m approaching the matter from the perspective of non-dualism and, from such a point of view, it’s clear we are being constantly duped by the environment, which includes our brain. We live inside an advanced illusory construct.

Philosophical and religious stances are nothing but dust. Not even dust. They are phantasms.