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Comment by moises_silva | Hacker News Reader

This. For me believing in free will is just another type of religion. It makes us feel safer and that we're in control. I think is useful for that, but we're deluding ourselves.

And I just realized you're being downvoted. How surprising.

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Even if free will is an illusion it my be maladaptive to design a justice system without consequences for perceived faults.

It may be the downfall of humanity progress as well and things may change.

I am not advocating a 'justice' system without consequences. You will have consequences. Consequences are just another input into our brains that do help deter some people from some behaviours. I don't kill people because I'd go to jail. I don't kill people because I don't want to hurt them (and that is on my programming, upbringing, possibly nature to a degree as well). I think the only way I'd kill someone is by accident or in a spur of the moment when emotionally disturbed by an incident (me or my family fear for our lives). Society has mostly accounted for those cases and I may not even go to jail if I did it, because people largely can relate to those situations and they agree it's not 'fair' send me to jail for them. However, there's several sectors of the population no one seems to be able or want to relate to (poor people that got little opportunities and guidance in life, abused people, mentally ill, psychopaths, a mix of all of that etc), and the people creating the rules therefore decide to 'punish' them in the name of justice for being bad and because we have not devised (and not invested enough time either) a better and more humane way to deal with them. In theory we want them to be reformed, in practice, is mostly about retribution and putting undesirables away.

Of course it’s a religion. People are deluded to think otherwise.

We just can't help downvoting him.

Since everyone was socially conditioned to desire and believe in free will. Similar to the past with God but I would have been hanged. It will change and it’s her not him.

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