Yule tide greetings and some not-so festive thoughts

My mother and brother live in Spain (yeh good deal) so for Christmas ive come over to Marbella to spend it with the fam. My brothers quite a keen philosopher and has been pointing me in the direction of some heavy research material. Philosophy Now back issues as well as The Philosophy Gym by Stephen Law. The latter articulates some pretty deep ideas in a very accessible manner and the former is obviously an excellent source. So ive been reading chapters and articles surrounding the issues of causality, control, free will, Evolutionist vs Creationist. Ive also been rereading Albert Camus "L'Etranger" or "The Outsider" due to its link to free will and expression of existentialism. Meursault, the protagonist, is an atheist who kills a man for almost inexplicable reasons. He keeps things simple, never saying more than is necessary. When Meursault refuses to turn to God after his crime he is sentenced to death. This, like his imprisonment, barely bothers him. The important fact is that he stays true to his beliefs. He is not a religious man therefore it seems absurd for him to suddenly accept God just to escape death, which he completely accepts responsibility for. He appears a very insensitive character (for example at the beginning of the story he doesn't cry at his mothers funeral) but it is simply that he remains honest to how he feels. He doesn't exaggerate emotions or reactios just because that's what's expected or just because that's what everyone else would do in the same situation. As i said, he stays true to his beliefs, no more, no less.

Ive also started to touch on Jean-Paul Sartre (not literally). Ive been reading about him in the Philosphy Now magazine. He is one of the fore-runners of existentialism and was friends with Albert Camus until they differed on their political and philosophical perspectives. There's a couple of quotes that really hit me, he claimed we, as human beings are
"condemned to be free"
I really like this statement, it's a poignant quote in existentialism and sums up an angle of free will. As Neo and the Architect discuss in The Matrix Reloaded, the reason why the human race cannot live in a peaceful paradise of loving harmony is the problem of choice. To act, or not to act. To interact, or not to interact. To make love, or war. Now of course those who do not believe in free will and take a more deterministic approach may argue that we are simply reacting to prior outside material causes, or that we are just resulting effects of the laws of nature and science. This to me is an excuse. If society took this deterministic idea we would have absolute chaos, a civilisation without moral responsibility. Imagine the madness. But nowm, back to Sartre, who also believed,
"existence preceeds essence"
Its not the meaning of life thats important, but the fact that we are actually alive. Anything we do with our life comes after the real significance that the human race exists in the first place. For arguments sake lets say we all believe the Big Bang theory. Now if that explosion had differed by even the minutest detail - we, earth, life, would not exist at all. It took the most perfect conditions for single celled organisms to come into being after the explosion, and then (assuming we are all Darwinians) millions of years of evolution for homosapiens to develop, for conscience to become, and for civilisation to advance to its current stage. The meaning of life is the miracle that we are alive. Similarly, whether free will is actual or an illusion, the crucial point is that we have the idea of free will. It is vital to society that we think we have the choice between right or wrong. As i mentioned above, if we can blame everything we do on outside forces, that are out of our control, then noone will have to take responsibility for their actions, be them positive or negative. It is essential for morality, justice and social responsibility that we believe we are free agents who have the option of acting or not acting and accept the consequences.

There, i did it, thats what im thinking at the moment. How i integrate this into a digital media interactivity brief is another matter. But until then. HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! (Does that hold any significance if im an evolutionist who therefore doesn't believe in God...)