and Other Newtonian Issues
Karl leans back in his padded chair
And if he still smoked
You'd just know
he'd have one of those Sherlock Holmes pipes
With an ashtray from Madagascar
And all those pipe cleaner tools and such
Karl leans back and lifts a cup of Earl Grey
Hesitates before sipping it
"Clarity huh?
Well there's the Truth
And there's . . . "
He puts the cup (mug actually)
Back on the cluttered desk
On top of some pages of print out
"You say;
'If I could see a problem the future
Then I could dodge it
Rather than run over it blindly.'"
He scratches behind his ear
"But there is a flaw in that.
If the future was certain you could see it
But you would not have any choices.
If you had a choice then the future would not be
certain.
One precludes the other."
Sips
"Lets say that tomorrow
You see yourself approaching and mad dog.
Let's say that is certain, gotta happen.
Now you decide you will avoid
that place where the dog will be
And you do
You avoid the mad dog.
Notice that something has changed.
You are no longer approaching the dog.
Now the future is no longer certain
because it can be changed.
So we must conclude that either the future is not
certain
Or free will is a hoax."
He hurls the tea mug against the wall
It shatters and the stain spreads from the point of
impact
"Well that
Free will thing seems to be working . . ."
Quixotic as ever
William C. Burns, Jr.
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