It would seem then that you were unfairly arrested those 25 times because you had neither intent to do what you did, nor free will to stop it from randomly happening.
Hi Michael,
The way I see this problem, based on my lifetime of paying attention to what happens — and how it happens — in my life, is that everything happens spontaneously, uncaused by me directly, and yet no matter how seemingly random it is, it is always coherent with current conditions — in some way. I’ve never had a thought arise about the best way to control nuclear reactions at very high temperatures and pressures, nor have I ever become a surgeon, because there is nothing in my life experience, or situation, that those examples would be coherent with. Similarly, I’ll never sprout wings and fly because that wouldn’t be coherent with my being a human. However, I am free to choose, at every moment of my life, what I pay attention to. And it is by simply turning my attention to some things, and away from others, that sets, or constrains, the possibilities for my life. True, some conditions are outside our control. If you had been jailed for an extended period you probably wouldn’t have been able to become a surgeon. But you probably went to college, and medical school, neither of which guaranteed that you would become a surgeon — you could have flunked out or been incompetent — but the conditions were created in your life that you could potentially be a surgeon. Yes, you worked hard, and at every moment of that formation, you made choices by turning your attention to some things, and away from others, and you succeeded. We can call it “free will” if we like, but’s it’s not like we made things happen. Instead, we had a goal and applied ourselves to what would bring us to that goal. But everything that came, arose spontaneously. Even our thinking process is like this. I’ll bet you never thought about a better way to solder water pipes, and you didn’t because that wasn’t something you applied your attention to.
So, given this, you were responsible for what you did as a youth — both while being a delinquent, and while being a pre-med student. As you said above, some things just happen. And when you really spend the time to pay attention, you notice that everything “just” happens. We’re just the navigator in our life.
And, of course, if we’re never paying attention, or we have no goal, all kinds of shit can and will arise.
Thanks for listening!
James