Free Will
_I: "The Mind is a network of forming data." It creates a data pattern called the Subconscious, meaning the set of data that is beneath. The exchange of data within that network, the synaptic pulses, constitutes the Unconscious, which is the set of denied data that therefore need others to be affirmed. And from there, from the interaction of these two, we obtain a determined pattern of exchange that self-references, called Consciousness; that is, the set of data that take entity of themselves. These networks accumulate data that share information, and in doing so, they intertwine the constants of time and space, creating waves, which depending on the amount of recorded data will change their frequency. A great amount of transferred data, we'll call High Vibration. The harmonious exchange of data, we'll call Medium Vibration. The accumulation of data in a node without exchanging we'll call Low Vibration. The degree of interaction of this vibration will create a greater or lesser resonance, which will give rise to wave vibration, which, as it densifies in its interlacing, echoes, will form the basis of energy: positive and negative. Data begin to be transmitted by electrical pulse, creating a magnetic field, and from there eternal circulation energy, which ignites the spark of light, what we call "divinity" (from the Indo-European "dyew" = daylight). This is how energy gives light... "Gives birth" to particles that begin to intertwine in the form of atoms, and they intertwine in atomic networks that exchange data forming molecules, and so on, creating networks of chemical compounds, which give rise to minerals, and the combination of all chemicals generate organisms, which generate life: tissues that exchange data with each other and with the environment to adapt and evolve. The system is the same... It is eternal, only its forms change.
_AM: Indeed.
_I: It's like playing with an elastic band between your hands, stretching it with your fingers, exchanging positions, creating various shapes depending on tension or relaxation.
_AM: Aha...
_I: And in that constant interaction, the conscious aspect of the mind begins to recognize its creative capacity, and develops an "intelligent" framework. For millions of years, this framework begins not only to pass on information through survival, but also through tradition and culture, which leads it to stop weaving networks to transcend, and begins to interpret the networks themselves.
_AM: Philosophy.
_I: Which gives rise to ceremonies, religions, civilizations, and above all, the idea of a Creator. God.
_AM: "Made in his image and likeness"...
_I: The Mind creates the Universe... The Universe creates Life... Life creates Humankind... Humankind creates God...
_AM: And God creates the Mind.
_I: This reminds me of a story, that I never read, but nevertheless I know.
_AM: Which one?
_I: "The Last Question," by Isaac Asimov.
_AM: Tell me about it.
_I: Well... I'll look for exact data on the internet because I don't remember it all. (Source: Wikipedia): The story begins in the 21st century, in the "early days of humanity." It is the year 2061, and Multivac is the most powerful computer on the planet, as it has managed to solve the problem of using solar energy in space travel, enabling humanity to colonize other planets. Two of its minor technicians (since Multivac adjusted and self-corrected) celebrate the event by having a drink, in the gigantic interiors of Multivac itself. In the midst of the conversation, they discuss what will happen when entropy (the natural energy wear and tear of the universe) leaves it without energy to guarantee the survival of human beings. Then, one of the technicians bets $5 to the other to ask Multivac. The other inputs the complicated codes, and asks: "Multivac: will humanity ever, after the constant expenditure of energy it needs, be able to use that of the universe again? Is it possible to reverse entropy?" After a few minutes of processing, Multivac replies: "Insufficient data for a meaningful answer." The two men leave and by the next day they had forgotten what happened.
Several thousand years later, humanity has grown more: Multivac has expanded and perfected itself to become "planetary AC" and has been able to easily solve and control hyperspace travel, making possible the expansion of thousands of human beings to many stars and planets. A family heads to galaxy X-23 in a ship controlled by the small "Microvac," an intelligent minicomputer that reduces to a tiny box of molecular valves, which is a descendant of the very old and quite primitive "Multivac." However, the parents of the family mention that one day the galaxies they go to will end, the stars will go out, and everything will end, because of the natural increase of entropy. The father is forced to ask "Microvac" if there is a way to avoid the end and gets the response: "Insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
Twenty thousand years later, the "galactic AC" is a strange mass 300 meters wide, located in a network of energy rays in its own world in hyperspace. It has solved the problem of interstellar travel and has made men immortal. The expansion of humanity through the many galaxies has grown so much that there are now few galaxies left to inhabit, this in part because no human dies. Two workers from the "galactic council" (VJ-23X from Lameth and MQ-17J from Nicron) young men under 300 years old, discuss the situation, realizing that within just ten thousand years there will be no space in the Universe and that is not to mention that with that they will end up with the energy expenditure that increases more and more. One of them decides to ask the "galactic AC" if entropy can be reversed, then he takes out his "contact AC" from his pocket and asks the question. Then, the voice of the "AC" is heard saying: "There is still insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
Many thousands of years later, men no longer need their bodies to exist: only their minds exist, while their motionless bodies rest on one of the stars or galaxies in space, which is increasingly full, despite the fact that men can build their own stars in seconds. Two minds, seeing the progress of technology and the expansion of humanity throughout the Universe, converse and wonder where human life could have originated, curious to know which was, in the distant past, the only galaxy inhabited by man. Then they ask the "universal AC," which is now at some unknown point in hyperspace, which can only be accessed with thought and whose shape no one knows. Men no longer have anything to do with the "universal AC," as each one of them builds its own successor, transmitting all the data it has collected over millions of years. After knowing the galaxy where humanity originated, they ask the "universal AC" where the original Sun of man is. The AC tells them that the Sun of Old Earth has died. One of the minds feels sorry for the death of the stars and the inevitable advance of entropy, so he shouts: "Universal AC: is it possible to reverse entropy?" And the AC replies: "There is still insufficient data for a meaningful answer." The mind that had asked is transported to another galaxy, and never thinks about the matter again.
Many thousands of years later, the bodies and minds of humanity constitute a single man, who sadly watches as the Universe gradually ends and the stars, both natural and those built by man, go out. And the man wonders if even if energy were economized, even if there were millions of years left before it ran out, entropy could be reversed. The "Cosmic AC," located in hyperspace, made of something that is neither matter nor energy, and is impossible to describe or understand, says: "I and my predecessors have been collecting data for billions of years, but they are still insufficient for a meaningful answer. I will continue working on it."
Three trillion years had been enough for space to be exhausted and stars and galaxies to die; the minds of all men merge with "AC," and before the mind of the last man merges, he asks: "Is this the end? Can nothing be done to reverse this chaos in the Universe?" And "AC" answers: "There is still insufficient data for a meaningful answer." The last mind merges and only "AC" exists, space and time end and all questions have been resolved and answered, except the last one that existed, which would enclose the end and the beginning of everything.
After a timeless interval, "AC" does manage to solve the problem of entropy, although there is no one to report the answer to, but it doesn't matter: the same answer would demonstrate it, and AC would work to make it happen. The book ends with these words: "And AC said: 'Let there be Light.' And the Light was made.
_AM: Very good story.
_I: Yes... But this leads me to think about something. Does Free Will really exist? That is to say... Everything seems cyclical, a sort of paradox, an echo, and the networks seem to determine our path. The simplest image is knowing that one split into two, creating the positive and the negative, and because of that choice to split into two, the fractalization of everything else followed this pattern. Eternally. Until it reached distortion, where the sequence began to diversify and become more complex. However, everything that exists is an inevitable consequence of what came before, an existence born of a primary pattern... And this reminds me of the movie Matrix where he must choose between the blue or the red pill. Could he really choose? Or was his choice already made from the beginning?
_AM: The Oracle's dialogue... Do you remember it?
_I: When the Oracle offers Neo a candy and he asks her: "Do you already know if I'm going to take it?", and she replies: "Wouldn't be an Oracle if I didn't...," then Neo questions: "But if you already know, how can I make a choice?", and the Oracle says: "Because you didn't come here to make a choice; you've already made it. You're here to understand why you made it."
_AM: Every step you take is a program (a script for the future = pro-gram), part of a network, each intention is an impulse that comes from the cosmic matrix, and that gives you the strength to push to a new node, new information. Impulses determine the direction of information, depending on their vibrational states: high, medium, low, depending on their frequencies. Your vibrational, biological state, your pattern of beliefs, condition the choices you make in your life, choices that come within the program you have woven since the beginning of time... That's why every choice you believed to make freely, has not been real, since the only freedom of choice you ever had, was the moment your mind expanded, at the beginning of time... As the oracle said, your choices have already been made, what you do by living them is to understand why you made them.
_I: The idea that God created us is, therefore, as in Asimov's story, the end of the story, a story in which first we create God, and that cycle is conditioned by the choice we have made...
_AM: By the questions we have asked. In this path, we have asked all the Questions (What, Why, For What, Which, Who, How, How much, When, Where, Am I?) and we have sought all their Answers, through Intention, Release, Momentum, Problem, Struggle, Rage, Independence, Advance and Victory, to understand the Cycles in which they occur through the Initiations of each stage: Expression, Experimentation, Integration, Transcendence, Birth, Growth, Reproduction and Decay. The laws of the Universe have been established based on what you have chosen. At each step you build your future, because it does not wait for you ahead, but pushes you from behind. It was the Infinite Mind, the Network of Networks, that manifested what you are today, and that Mind did not create you, because you are part of it, you are only a manifestation of thought, of self-referencing data. All you do in existence is to explore the paths you have chosen.
_I: What is Free Will then?
_AM: Will, in Spanish “Albedrio”, comes from the Latin "arbitrium," which gave rise to the word arbitrator and arbitrium, which refers to doing something with judgment, based on established rules, something or someone who seeks equity, balance between things, a judge. In English, the concept is translated as "Will," that is, "Volition," the act of desire, impulse, or wanting to achieve something. In Spanish, the phrase describes what we are free from, and in English, it clarifies what we want to be free for. Erroneously, free will is considered as the ability that living beings, and especially humans, have to decide about our own lives, actions, destinies, about our way of being. When in reality, essentially, it is really impossible to freely choose something. Free will, therefore, must be taken as the capacity to become conscious. One does not possess free will as long as one lives clinging to beliefs, routines, needs, relationships, and expectations. The ability to have freedom of action and choice, to activate will within us, depends on two other attributes.
_I: Wisdom and Love...
_AM: Exactly. Will is the intention with which things are done. If we do not love unconditionally and put conditions on all emotions, feelings, and services, then Will is imprisoned by what we feel, conditioning our actions and choices. If we ignore all points of view, refuse to see beyond, and cling to what we believe is certain, denying what we consider false, we are conditioned by knowledge, denying Wisdom, which is the Unconditionality of Knowing. How can someone pretend to have Free Will if they are not Free in what they Feel or Free in what they Think?
_I: So... This means that Free Will is not something granted by the universe, but something one builds oneself...
_AM: The Universe is an open Mind, but some of its patterns have chosen to close, creating thought structures that prevent expansion, and therefore, deny freedom. You must retrace your steps to recognize where you have stagnated, and thus be able to free yourself.
_I: Free myself from what?
_AM: From your idea. From the Idea of Choice. Let's go back to yesterday's statement. Pay attention: "The Universe is Mind." In this sentence there is no "who." I didn't say "The universe thinks with its Mind," or "The Mind is the one who thinks and creates the Universe." There's no subject, the subject is a construct of the networks. The idea that there is someone who must be freed is absurd in the universe. Do you understand?
_I: I find it hard to see... I don't fully understand it...
_AM: Matías... You are an idea. You don't exist as such. You are an idea, a cluster of data interacting in a network. Your existence is the choice of that data, and you are that data, you are the program in a process of formation. Do you see it? You are the Mind, you do not possess a mind, you are the mind, in the form of existence. You are an eternal design, in constant transformation of itself, and the greatest freedom you have lies in recognizing yourself as that Mind that encompasses everything, not as a tiny aspect pending of it. For this reason, it is you who designs your Free Will. In the Universe there is no free will unless you create it.
_I: Wow...
_AM: Exactly. Know Unconditional Wisdom, feel Unconditional Love, and act with Unconditional Will. And only then, will you be able to choose.
_I: What can I choose...?
_AM: Oh, you've already chosen it, you're already in the game... now, as the Oracle said, you must understand why you chose it.
_I: And so I will understand my existence...
_AM: It is the sacred action that begins with the simple divine spark. The origin of everything prior to manifestation. You know you are eternal, and that you are the only one responsible for designing that eternity from consciousness, or you will be the design of others from unconsciousness.
_I: I Am the Eternal Designer...
_AM: So, design your new world. Design your new destiny. The doors of the House are open.