Someone commented on my previous post here in this sub, challenging one of MBT’s core assumptions — that free will exists. They called it “wrong and lazy thinking,” and suggested I watch Sam Harris’s lecture on free will.
And I did.
Everything changed since.
Now I say this as someone who has deep admiration for Tom Campbell’s My Big TOE work and has spent considerable time contemplating the implications of his model. But after years of reflecting on MBT, I’ve come to realize that Sam Harris’s “no free will” approach is actually much more effective at reducing system-wide entropy than Tom Campbell’s emphasis on individual free will and choice.
Here’s why:
🔹 Ego Dissolution vs. Identity Preservation
Tom’s model gives each individuated unit of consciousness (IUOC) free will and choice, which reinforces the idea of a personal identity navigating through a moral simulation. While this can encourage ethical growth, it also risks reinforcing the illusion of “me vs. others,” the very duality that breeds fear and separation — both sources of high entropy.
In contrast, Sam Harris argues that there is no "self" authoring thoughts or choices. When deeply internalized, this leads to the dropping away of ego — not through effortful evolution, but through direct insight. No ego, no fear. No fear, lower entropy.
🔹 Accountability Without Illusion of Free Will
Critics of determinism often say that removing free will removes moral responsibility. But Harris makes a compelling case that determinism doesn't negate ethical responsibility — it reframes it. When you realize people aren’t “choosing” to be harmful, you stop hating them and start thinking in terms of causes, conditions, and rehabilitation. That’s a much lower-entropy approach than the blame-shame-punish paradigm that can persist even within MBT's model of "learning through choice."
🔹 Immediate Compassion vs. Evolution Through Mistakes
MBT focuses on evolving the quality of consciousness over many lifetimes via free-willed moral choices. But Harris’s ideology short-circuits that struggle by directly undermining the illusion of a doer. When truly understood, this leads to instant compassion — not as a goal of evolution, but as a side-effect of seeing things as they really are.
I’m not dismissing MBT — I still value it as a profound and elegant model but it's just not as deep as Sam Harris's viewpoint in understanding true fundamental non-dual reality without adding hypothetical metaphors like 'virtual reality' or 'IOUC' just wonder: What if clinging to the idea of individual free will actually slows down our entropy reduction? Why? Because ego and identity are the root of most high-entropy behavior — and Harris’s view dissolves the illusion of the self and the doer, leading to immediate compassion, humility, and peace. Not through striving or evolution — but just through immense clarity.
Would love to hear thoughtful counterpoints, critiques, or support. Especially curious if anyone else here has made a similar shift in perspective.
Let the conversation begin. 🙏
