Agency vs. Determinism: Redefining Reality One Creative Idea at a Time – The Socjourn

As of 1903, the Wright Brothers transcended the environmental limitations that had previously prevented heavier-than-air flight. As a result, the Wright Brothers created new facts (e.g., flying machines), new truths (e.g., humans had become aviators) and reality has never been the same since. Air travel is the new normal.

This is simply one of many examples of the capacity that human agents have to transcend the limitations of environment, e.g., space travel is another illustration of the human capacity to transcend environmental limitations. Consequently, for humans, the universe is not deterministic, rather, the future is what we decide to make it.

Hawking, Stephen, 2007. The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe. New Edition. Beverly Hills, CA: Phoenix Books.

Kurzweil, Ray, 2005. The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. New York: Viking.

McGettigan, Timothy, 2011. Good Science: The Pursuit of Truth and the Evolution of Reality. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

Skinner, B. F., 1971. Beyond Freedom and Dignity. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.