The Philosophy of Steins;Gate

Okabe says he doesn't believe in fate, but what do his actions say? El psy congroo!
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To learn more about Free Will and Determinism:
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• Determinism vs Free Wi...
Reading Recommendations:
Being and Time - Heidegger
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding - Hume
Free Will - Sam Harris

[@ratboyraticus9896]

Okabe says he doesn't believe in fate, so fate mentally tortures him until he believes.

[@gabagool6242]

Ratboy Raticus bruh

[@RodriOrio86]

actual bruh moment

[@unhommequicourt]

then he becomes god and destroy fate

[@speeddemonji9547]

And then future okabe destroys that belief.

[@omnomnom5359]

@@unhommequicourt he was viewed as a god in the anime once, or at least referred to.

[@InquisitorThomas]

This video is completely wrong, everyone knows the central philosophy of Steins; Gate is “Doctor Pepper is Delicious.”

[@blackconjurer9939]

Inquisitor Thomas u nailed it man

[@TrueMentorGuidingMoonlight]

But of course. I only consume the intellectual drink of the chosen ones!

[@dreacleoson1609]

Blasphemy! JAPANESE SHAMAN GIRL is the center of steins;gate philosphy!

[@craftnight2693]

Damn you are right, Doctor Pepper mever changed in every world line

[@omarhasan2254]

@@dreacleoson1609 WRONG AGAIN! JAPANESE SHAMAN BOYS IS THE PHILOSOPHY OF STEINS;GATE!

[@cycleoffire2220]

S;G Okabe - This is the choise of the Steins Gate. S;G-0 Okabe - This is my choise (in the last episode). It has more clues to deconstruction of the S;G determinism, like theme of opening and many quotes in the plot. If I get it right series tries to tell us that our world is determined and the only way we can break over it is by our own pure and honest will. Truth or not, it's pretty romantic. Hope you'll watch it (worth it) and make video about S;G-0 as well, such analysing materials is truly intresting. El.Psy.Congroo.

[@avikbiswas4558]

i was just thinking about this. when he said this was my choice that hit me. Really hit me.

[@herrogamer]

Well it was his choice at that moment , which was influenced by a series of events .. Well that series of events was the Choice of Steins Gate.. So the final Okabe(the Steins Gate one) agrees that it is indeed the Choice of Steins Gate at the last episode of the series(technically the last episode is Steins Gate ep 24) .

[@donutminion8881]

@@herrogamer I have to disagree. While the final Okabe is under the illusion that it was Steins Gate's choice, the SG0 Okabe is the one who chose to go through all those time leaps.

[@msrodrigues2000]

The way I see is that the universe was correcting the instability of time lines just like nature like things to be in the lowest state of energy possible, Okabe's ability reading steiner only exists to achieve that since he was the one who started all of this. In conclusion, you can or can not be the one to push the ball down of the table, but it will happen eventually for sure.

[@AscottSauce]

This comment was inevitable.

[@fumofumo6704]

My answer to this comment wasn't coincidence

[@avikbiswas4558]

i just did this 4 de lols

[@fumofumo6704]

Cynical Kazu Yup yup aaaaaaand yup

[@korakys]

My response to this comment wasn't inevitable, it was determined by consultation with a random number generator.

[@DrCooch]

@@pixelcynic isn't that alternatively Fatalism and not determinism ?

[@AngelX712]

We are free to enjoy your amazing content.

[@Piash001]

Life has no free will?

[@htoodoh5770]

Hasan Shahriar What is free will?

[@jazzwell]

Well uhh If we consume something, such as this video, we can't choose whether we enjoy it or not. Many people have something that they WANT to like or WANT to get into, but just can't. And on the other side, people have guilty pleasures, they like something that they WANT to dislike. So we're not free in the sense that we can choose what we enjoy and what we don't enjoy.

[@htoodoh5770]

GetSchwifty! Eh, maybe they don't actually like it.

[@jazzwell]

Htoo Doh shut up im trying to look smart

[@szef5674]

All events are the choices of doctor pepper

[@thewwefan57]

The real tragedy of the ending is that Mayushi didn't get her rare metal Upa :(

[@BisquitFarmer]

A video about my favourite anime by my favourite anime channel. This is a pretty good end to my tuesday

[@Un-Woke]

Was thinking the same thing...

[@cad_moola]

I think Okabe said it best in Ep 1,when talking about the Llamaman. That it's useless to think about, and to use that time to fight the organization.

[@petertrypsteen]

But what if the Llamaman is part of the organization?

[@JaimeNyx15]

The great thing about Steins;Gate is that it deconstructs the notion of having choice at all, in the sense presented in this video. The idea of a choice between two equal but different outcomes, either of which we could have taken, is mostly unrealistic. For we don't care about most things equally; there's a sort of unspoken priority in most people's minds of who/what you would save in a burning building and in what order, even if you wouldn't acknowledge or want to find out what that priority was yourself. But Steins;Gate does present us with that scenario: the choice between the lives of Mayuri and Kurisu, two people Okabe cares about deeply. Instead of making a hard choice, like he had in the past, when Okabe was presented with two equally bad options, he simply couldn't make a decision. Because he could have gone either way, he didn't. In the end, Kurisu had to make the decision for him, since she saw things differently. Okabe prioritized both Mayuri's and Kurisu's happiness, making it a perfect zero-sum scenario, whereas Kurisu prioritized Okabe's and Mayuri's happiness, which would be fulfilled much more by her own death than Mayuri's. Presented with the same scenario, Kurisu was free to actually make her decision. And that might be the key to free will. A choice is just the ability to cause one of multiple possible outcomes, and maybe we could consider free will as getting to use one's own unique priority list to make a decision, instead of being forced onto one outcome by an outside force. In that sense, Okabe does exert free will: he had options that would have fulfilled some or most of his priorities, and he chose between them, instead of being railroaded down that path. Nobody was forcing their decisions onto him. The tangled mess of if-statements and priorities that was Okabe's brain made those decisions on its own.

[@vivekpillai622]

I agree with this, particularly that Okabe was free to choose - he just could not foresee or control the outcome of his choices. I'd also say he made a choice to not accept the choices presented to him. His rebellion against the laws of nature is a great expression of free will imo, regardless of the outcome.

[@YaBoiNicho]

Agreed.

[@farisanwari777]

Beautifully put.

[@manavkala3216]

Thank you so much. Finally someone made a video analysing my favourite anime😢

[@crusefitzgerald]

Wow I am taking an intro to philosophy class and many of your videos capture the essence of these big philosophical debates really well. I see that's it has been a while since you have made any content, but I truly hope there is more to come.

[@bits.and_pieces]

your voice is so mesmerizing. i can listen to you whole day.

[@TrueMentorGuidingMoonlight]

So... anyone up for the Philosophy of Ergo Proxy? “I think, therefore, you are!”

[@haedrath]

yissss

[@Yggdraseed]

This video seriously gave me chills. You make such excellent use of the series's music, and your ideas flow so competently and forcefully. Your videos are really some of the best in anime analysis, and I'm always impressed by them.

[@yareyaredazeyareyaredaze4207]

Your voice tickles my ears

[@Dante5154]

Put off watching this for so long because it's my last one of hers ;c~ I hope she makes more of these ~ I love the message she gives at the end after delivering such a neutral position. I hope we can see more soon

[@neonknight5857]

Simultaneously the most important and most useless question. Do we really ever have a choice? Regardless of the answer, we'll keep going as if we do. As luck would have it, we have no other option. subbed asf

[@dand1690]

I have a choice of replying to this comment, but then was it determined by fate that I would write it right now? Did I not reply in another time/universe? this shit's too deep man

[@pumpernickel1955]

its by no means a useless question. we have already accepted that some individuals do not have free will and treat them differently from other adults both in court and in every day life.

[@neonknight5857]

@@pumpernickel1955 I don't know what you're talking about but I can already tell it has nothing to do with this existential free will issue. We can't "decide" who has free will. The whole point of the idea is contemplating whether or not any one of us truly has the ability to "decide" anything for ourselves. It's got nothing to do with trying to limit someone else's options. It isn't some kind of right or privilege. It's a question about the way human's can ever potentially behave.

[@pumpernickel1955]

@@neonknight5857 well i couldnt disagree more. i think the idea of even questioning wether we have free will is absurd. you should read kant on that topic. judges decide based on psychologist recommendation wether someone has the capability to choose freely. we also think that children cant choose freely either. compatibilism is the only viable way to look at this topic without getting into pradox territory

[@TheKingWhoWins]

Closed minded it seems (The guy directly above)

[@KoongYe]

No. When he says it is the choice of steins;gate, he doesn't mean everything is according to fate. The whole story is based around a man's struggle to fight the will of the world. He may have believed in fate in the earlier episodes as you pointed out. But that ending phrase is just his way of saying "I have went through all this trouble to reach the steins;gate, that has a set course of future(fate) that I have chosen."

[@Roxasguy13]

I agree with you, this makes more sense

[@jacksonmiller6609]

Yeah I didn’t realize this double meaning until i read the vn

[@teenprez]

Yeah the interpretation of the line in this video is completely wrong. At least in the VN, Okabe mentions multiple times that the phrase has no meaning, and is just something he made up to sound cool, especially in his more naive times at the beginning of the story. As things get more and more tragic and hopeless for Okabe, he leans on the persona of Hououin Kyoma less and less, dismissing the persona as childish. Then, when he said his lowest, most hopeless point it has completely given up, he receives a message from his future self. The older Okabe tells him all of his suffering was not meaningless and was in fact crucial to changing the world line, all the while acting like younger, “childish” Okabe who adopts the silly mad scientist persona. This gives him hope, and he realizes that his actions matter whether or not they technically change the future. In the end, when Okabe meets with Kurisu, he once again starts acting like Hououin Kyoma, a relic of his more hopeful life before the trauma of time travel. When he says, “This is the choice of Steins;gate,” he isn’t speaking literally about determinism, since he and we both know this phrase is meaningless. He’s demonstrating that he is beginning to heal from his hopelessness and self-loathing in a new world line where no one knows what the future holds.

[@adrianciszewski3784]

omg your voice is amazing

[@ceonikhilpande]

Wow amazing content. I've had these exact thoughts about Steins;Gate and about life in general, and to see you pull literally every single thought I've ever had on this philosophical debate and lay it out so smoothly and eloquently has impressed me a lot. Instant subscriber. I hope you tackle Psycho Pass one day. That show soaks itself in philosophical debates. My favourite observation was how the protagonists fight for a reality that would be absurd to us (in today's time), but the villains fight for a reality that we want (in today's time). Really opens your mind to asking what is the right kind of reality we should create - the pros and cons of creating something like the Sibyl system. Anyway, enjoy your day. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your stuff.

[@antoniocruzat6210]

this is the best video I have seen so far this year

[@fernandosarabia5467]

Wow the video was amazing! Great content! The reading reccomendations are a great touch for the overall description. Subscribed, please keep up the great work!

[@sleepygrimm4645]

Why is your voice and choice of words so perfect?

[@TheGomer321]

This is an excellent video that got me thinking. Not enough stuff on KZbin does that. Thanks!

[@TheCheshireCatInfo]

Well, I was thinking about this question as I am adapting Steins;Gate to a paper RPG. And I have to say, there is an instant of free will. One single moment. In Steins;Gate (there are more in the Steins;Gate 0 Visual novel), there is the very moment when he decided whether or not he would delete his history in the CERN database - thus killing Kurisu. This event is leading to attractor field β. But... this is the only event (in the original Steins;Gate) when a decision, without any time machine implied, is changing the wordline. Now what does that mean ? A worldline is supposed to be stable, and leading to a coherent world. When Okabe finally retrieves the IBM 5100, he should have been thrown in attractor field β directly : further actions should be eluded, and he should already be in the new worldline at that point. So why didn't it happen? For drama purpose only? In fact, I don't feel so. In Steins;Gate 0 VN (not in the anime, because they couldn't adapt the whole plot in the serie), you can make choices that lead to worldline changes. The PhoneWave has been destroyed but Okabe is ultimatly able to influence both future and past without any kind of f*** time machine. Why? Because Okabe is not part of any worldline anymore. His Reading Steiner ability has turned him into a God, though he's not concious of it. So yes, people on worldlines in Steins;Gate are 100% determined and cannot make any choice. But Rintaro with his Reading Steiner become free. Or rather, have a determinism of his own based on experience of events that did not occured. And... he's not the only one with Reading Steiner. The original VN made it clear that everybody has a bit of Reading Steiner inside them. The Steins;Gate 0 VN explores further this point. Although Steins;Gate appears to be against free will theories, it support a way to get rid of it, to change our future based on informations coming from intuition, those intuitions coming from parallel universe with never-occuring events. This is the way to be free, this is the will of Steins;Gate : a world WE chose because WE believe it is the best world. No God decided it at the Big Bang. In this universe, one can assume that, in fact, we are all making those kind of decisions based on something outside reality. While I agree some determinist would point out that this is not changing the matter, this is truly an amazing point of this story, missed by almost all viewers and players. I encourage you to play Steins;Gate 0 VN with that idea in mind ;)

[@kostyanwest]

Yeah, I think the same) Even in the game, we can make a choice only after the first shifting of the world line. I think at this moment the causality for Okabe was broken.

[@andrewday6899]

When Okabe deletes the message in SERN's database it affects the worldline because in the future SERN would use that information to track down the future gadget lab and communicate it to their operatives in the past. So when the message is deleted it changes what SERN will send back in the future, which causes Reading Steiner to activate.

[@tacsui2061]

Really glad that Berserk content you made popped up in my feed. Your content is excellent.

[@cyanlos01]

I don't know why you've stopped posting. I really enjoyed your videos.

[@ClickThief]

This is why I love stiens;gate, amazing video btw! PLEASE break down the movie - load region of déjà vu, it ties into this theory nicely. Below is my take on it. It's like trying to alter a divergence comes at the cost of sanity, and having the ability to read Steiner is almost a 4th dimensional property which humans have at their clutches, yet aren't supposed to have, therefore SPOILER ALERT: Okabe is blipped out of existence into what for me seemed like the 4th dimension, in a space or time which he was omniscient of what consequences each action would forgo, or at least how to alter any given point in time which diverges. The show almost suggests that free will is granted (or taken for granted) but there is a possibility that we as humans can create a change big enough to alter divergences in the future without our knowledge, I mean it doesn't even have to be limited to just one person either or a group, it's like a clock where the cogs intersect without our knowledge of the bigger picture, I wonder then, if humans can create an alternative divergence or "alpha/beta" worldline where they are destined to align at the divergence? And does that mean we have free will? The show is almost saying that humans have a limited perception on what free will is but that is open to discussion.

[@Fuwaaai]

I want a damn nixie tube clock that looks like divergence meter

[@thomasharper9108]

Absolutely gutted you dont have any recent videos! This was incredibly interesting

[@Roggoll]

I subscribed to all the youtubers that mathwiz put in your his video and if this is the video you're putting out at my first impression I can't wait to see what you make next!

[@focus-mo1nq]

I like the idea (I think it was from Schoppenhauer) that our will is predetermined but because we are able to execute our will if the will itself arises you can say that our will is free. I know that this Approach is Kind of redefining but I'm fine with that :D

[@YamiInu55]

Just found this channel as I and I enjoy the way you approach philosophy through anime.

[@jotarosold1140]

Love your videos plz come back whenever your ready your analyzes skills are unmatched hope you get what ever your getting through ❣️

[@tiagovasc]

Quantum mechanics isn't much of an argument for free will, because it's ultimately random. The fact that it's unpredictable and undetermined doesn't make that your "choice" (and this already assuming that it directly affects consciousness).

[@Kushufy]

Exactly. There's no way hypothetical ways for free will to exist, except that it is "magic beyond human comprehension", which is why it's a religious construct. The only ways to explain why something happened, is that it was determined by something else or completely random. To believe in free will, you either need to redefine what "free will" means into something else (compatibilism) or believe in literal unexplainable magic.

[@Disure5]

This was great - amazing

[@pancakepower1006]

This is an amazing video. Keep up the good work mate!

[@Zap_Arts]

Explanation Point sent me here. Really nice to see an anime channel tackling philosophy. I've been contemplating my own free will this last month and it really was terrifying at first. Am I actually making my own choices? We really do feel like we are. After doing a lot of research, I've come to the conclusion that even if we don't have free will, It doesn't have to matter. What matters is that my brain can construct the reality I'm seeing. A reality that may or may not actually be real, but my brain can be happy in the one it conceives. I can feel things right here and now. We may not have free will, but I don't need to be free to be happy.

[@algorix8420]

ZAP ARTS man it still doesnt work absolutely, a man s main objective could not be happiness, as for me happiness seen in different ways can also be being free

[@TrillShvt]

So with a mindset like that would be able to be locked up and happy without freedom?

[@dddmemaybe]

Freedom is Slavery. This video points out one perspective that a (potentiality) "the best" feeling of "freedom" is found when the slavery and freedoms of determinism favorably overlaps with the slavery and freedoms of inherent chaotic forces. Also want to point out that a human's "happiness" is not formed from the emotion of "happiness" but of the inclusion of all of the wants and needs of the inherent human structure, developed personalities and physical states being met with proper values (not too little not too much). Err at least when considering the slang-y-ness of the word happiness.

[@alsilver123]

Dejavu

[@yvonne3745]

That's what I feel too

[@Peatoriche]

Holy shit your content is SO GOOD

[@Kimdracula1983]

when i first heard of the Mandela Effect "Steins Gate" poped up in my head!

[@keonhill2385]

“Man has no control. Even over his own will.”

[@topher_69eze]

I feel that determinism and free will are compatible. You have to have a certain rational deep thinking to agree. Thanks for this wholesale food for thought video, even if it is 2 years ago, I really wanted to hear more from you. Thank you.

[@MarkAlphas]

Amazing video, have a new subscriber! It's definitely predetermined that this channel will always have more amazing videos!

[@tomnguyen6880]

Yo, just found your channel and gotta admit, your videos are damn good. You have this wise and chill charisma, it‘s pretty difficult to put in words tho. But one thing, don‘t make me cry :‘(, that music and the scenes with mayuri gave me a mental breakdown haha.

[@HmongCrypto]

Beautiful :) You don't see a ton of videos and knowledge like these out there for anime. Love your videos. My kind of stuff..lol Hoping to see more like this eventually. Goodluck!!!

[@c.galindo9639]

Great video. I would believe some events are inevitably led to a certain outcome however no matter what we do before leading up to it, it will be that certain outcome regardless of actions taken beforehand. The only free will would be between cataclysmic events that greatly affect certain aspects in time and space. Whether it’d be death of an individual, a certain declaration, a law being governed, so on and so forth. It is to be. Free will lies upon the individual but the cause and effect will be the same from such things

[@harmonc.5101]

14 thousand subscribers that’s crazy there should be more . This some good stuff 😋

[@markuhler2664]

I would say in response to the quote at 7:40 that just because time travel shows the response of free will doesn't negate it. Merely (merely?) being able to see the outcomes of every decision in response to a future event doesn't nullify your need to make a decision, in fact reinforces it. When you come to that point in time you have to decide, even if your decision is to not to decide. Everything is inevitable, until you choose. Then only 1 outcome is inevitable, barring the choices of others.

[@폴-q1t]

I FUCKING LOVE THIS ANIME

[@shiv_kna]

The last words indicated the convergence of timelines of meeting of okabe with kirusu. That was the choice of Steins gate

[@Mr.lions3.14]

I'm fascinated by the way your mind works! I could watch this video 10 times with out taking all in. Though I've questioned my self about free will many times, I'm still not sure to what to think of this, However u have to admit that if we don't have free will our knowledge of the fact that we might not! is rather curious!

[@AngelX712]

Awesome vid and congrats on 1500 subs.

[@AnimePhilosopher]

Thank you!

[@ineednochannelyoutube5384]

+Anime Philosopher Quantum mechanics called. They disagree.

[@LichardD]

All things are more about probability that they are about free will or determinism. the probability that an atom will react one way or another is governed by probability due to quantum mechanics. What is the difference between a atom inside a brain and one outside? I would say there isn't a difference and thus probability is the key to understanding why we feel we have free will. Great content you deserve more viewers, subscribers, and praise!

[@algorix8420]

Can you just tell me why your vids don t have something like milions of hundreds of thousands of views? Because they re just incredible

[@ConceptsMadeEasyByAli]

Beautiful voice and great video.

[@danielbandasantoyo8274]

If we go by determinism, a basis of the philosophy of science, then we are not free, but that does not mean we are uncapable of taking a decision, just that such is strongly based on previous and current stimulation, and the anticipation of possible consequences. Even when we learn by observing, we associate certain actions to certain consequences so selection by consequences still applies. This is basic in scientific psychology, we cannot go against the fact that our behavior is determined, but what we can do, is understand how it is determined, to stimulate ourselves into taking certain actions, and feeling and thinking differently too (even then, something pushed you to that interest). In the end, at least from my POV, we are not free, but we do not need to be free to feel as such. Now about the indeterminism bit, it is possible that the laws we "discover" are more likely just artificial notions that we try to build to get closer to the real world as we experience it and try to describe, explain, predict and control it, and that some things do not really follow that rule but, even if that notion os artificial, it is necessary to build knowledge. I am in love with this show exactly for these kind of notions. And yes I agree; while I am a bit of a nihilist, I dont think Morale is necesary or holds any value of its own and its rather the way we feel about it, but is definetly necesary to survive as a society, thats why any social change its recieved with such hostility. Also, your voice is quite something, it quite fits the mature tone of this show and the topic of the video. I really feel like subscribing, perhaps that already had a higher probability of happening tho.

[@YosoVari]

I know this comment is super late but I just wanted to put a little caveat on your point about Okabe’s final line. On its surface, it definitely might seem like this is him submitting to some higher power but you’ve got to remember the origins of the phrase. Episode three establishes that Okabe’s talk about steins gate is comepletely meaningless. The phrase has no given meaning or value beyond that Okabe uses it. In many ways, the show works to break this part of Okabe down. Throughout the show, Mayuri does again and again as Pkabe is powerless to do anything, Okabe is at the will of determinism. But the show doesn’t see this determinism as an immutable thing. If it did then then Okabe would likely have never saved Kurisu. He would have lived on in the alpha line and called this a victory. Instead, he doesn’t stop there, he pushes on and rewrites the world to suite his own design. ‘Steins gate’ as a phrase is symbolic of Okabe’s force of will and desire to overcome these issues.

[@SkyMushrooms]

Was brought here by Aleczaxndxr, was not disappointed

[@zainy_inc154]

Same❤️

[@compuguy123]

Brownian motion and electron positional collapse kind of go against prediction of the future regardless... right?

[@vaskaventi6840]

Good point

[@garnauklaufen6704]

Being in controll of ones fate and having free will are two different things: I can have free will and no crontroll over anything, since my actual freedom and controll of anything depends not only on the freedom of my will, but also the state of the world (for example that it allows meaningful actions in the first place, or that it provides me with sufficient means to successfully pursue my goals etc.). Therefore free will is not freedom. (A prisoner has as much free will as anyone who is not imprisoned, but certainly less freedom.) I think this video does not make this distinction. I would, of course, go with Kant: Everything is determined by causal laws - insofar as things as appearances are concerned. That says nothing about things onto themselves, and therefore we can postulate free will (but not prove it) according to reason used in a practical way.

[@lukeryuzaki2328]

I totally agree. If anything, Steins;Gate has proven the video wrong. While make distinction between free will and ability to control one’s fate.

[@thegooseman90]

Steins Gate is a deep anime that keeps you thinking about possibilities and what if our choices really in the greater scope.

[@Nikbravo258]

Nothing is set unless...

[@scottknowsnothing2153]

Reminds me of The Matrix, everyone from Morpheus, The Architect, to Agent Smith regardless if they are friend or foe keep telling Neo that it's up to fate, pre determined structure or that his sruggle is futile and defeat is inevitable. Neo rejects this and finds a way to overcome because he chooses to, The Matrix is a retelling of the myth of Sisyphus, though instead of the rock falling, he finds a way to break the cycle itself

[@ChaosophysOldYT]

Scott McConnell except those are just stories, in which the actions of the characters are decided by the writers. In the end, stories that attempt to support free will only disprove it, because the choices they make and the actions they take are all part of the script.

[@jiren.joestar]

Anyone else cry in the sad scenes of SG 0?

[@MathewSan_]

Great video 👍 I really like Steins;Gate 😢

[@herrogamer]

So agree with your explaination.. Even newer comments are saying the Future Okabe 0 had free will (kindof) but still his actions were predetermined according to the story that went on.. If we just ignore the concept of time travel in Steins Gate for a moment , and watch Okabe living a normal life with doing normal stuff( like just playing a video game related to timetravel), his actions are predetermined again. Basically we will always live with the notion of having free will even if we will achieve time travel , but still everything is predetermined in such a beautiful way that we can't just find the difference.

[@eragoh02]

My head is about to blow, jeez!

[@lugyd1xdone195]

Its all predetermined. But that doesnt mean we should pretend we dont matter. Our being predetermined doesnt change a thing about our affecting this world. We affect the world, even if only being its reaction. That.. is Steins Gate

[@Skillseboy1]

This was great!

[@Xelann]

I think fate exists but we have the free will to change it.

[@fictionarch]

I feel that the fact that Steins;Gate Zero exists proves that free will exists in that universe.

[@DaemonGenius]

Or that timeline? Alpha or beta line whichever zero takes place in

[@Naruhinahaven255]

@@DaemonGenius beta since that is the one that Kurisu died in

[@brandonyu6999]

I think the word freewill mentioned in the video is different than the ones I use in normal life. Freewill to me is something that includes the element of restrain. Is about working with restrain. Let say, instead of wanting to drink a specific drink like coffee or water or tea. My determination right at this time is to decided to have something to drink except poisons, I am thrill, essentially. Then, when I go to fridge, I found out that there's water, dr.pepper, tea, milk...etc (any array of item as long there's MORE THAN 1). I will essentially solved my thrill by consuming one of those item, or 2 , but I solve my problem and felt content. The point is I can't have a tea magically appear in front of me without obeying the physic's law. But most of the time, I do have at least one option to choose and act on, essentially making my self content. It's all about chemicals in my brain that causes my action. But I have the freewill to choose, base on that restriction. And I believe that's what freewill suppose to be like. Because what defines freewill if you have no limit? In one perspective, you have your conscious coming into this "game", where the first thing you realize is that it have rules. Either rules from your body or outside your body. In a sense, you are bounded with the chemicals in your body. But you can choose to upgrade it, or downgrade it, of course do whatever all based on upon your body. Brain gives you a more complex cognitive thinking, your sensory organs, biological systems, all these are rules, but you have options to deal with them. On the other hand, if I am born as an entity that all my actions are depended upon my own will.(Essentially the freewill that's in this video.) My will is the only presentation that I am a cognitive being that can think and determine, and I can literally do anything as long I can think of it. But the thing is, if I don't know what walking is, do I know how to walk on sand, ice, road, lands? No. How about walking on seas, sky, outer space, lava? No. Can I say that in a way I am not free because I don't have these rules on me? Yes, using the definition mentioned in the video, yes. Here's the kicker, let say I am absolutely free! 0 restrain, I have no body, I have no conscious, I have nothing! So I am not bounded to problems in any kind of wild life on earth or any other planet. I have no need because I am not bounded to any wishes. I am absolutely free off everything! And that is just nothing. Absolute freedom or freewill whatever you call it is just nothing. No color, no shapes from the eye. No need to worry, sure, he is free of those things. But in a way, because I have more rules bounded with me, so I have options. I can say that I know what free is more than that entity. Freewill and freedom is just having ways to go around the obstacles,which essentially is the restrain that brings me in an emotional content. Is like, if I am not bored, not angry, not anxious or feeling other emotions other than content, I never know what content is like.

[@吳泓岍]

When okabe let christina finding album in book shelf ,I saw three book in Janpanes title:critique of pure reason, kant and the problem of metaphysics and existence and time

[@bonchiz]

I always like to imagine that the Macro world (Stars, planets, economics, politics) is deterministic and is governed by Newtonian Physics, while the Micro world of Quantum Physics (with each individual representing a quark) is chaotic.

[@mattr.6917]

Love your voice.

[@dragos_503]

Okabe was free to choose the timeline

[@AidenDesJames]

Love your content! It’s really hard to argue against determinism, I guess the best argument I can think of is the chaos and complexity of our possible choices, as well as our ability to choose NOT to do something. More Berserk pls If interested give Trigun a watch Also, it’s not anime but Silent Hill 2 is by far the best literary game out there, might make for some interesting topics.

[@MrTehRave]

Nice analysis

[@gretel8986]

even before finding steins;gate, i used to watch sorts of science-y videos during my elementary school days. maybe i can say that it was one of the major reasons why i rlly like the show, that it kinda remind of those days of amazement. but i remember, one vid i once watched said that scientists reject the existence of fate. it said that u either believe in "fate" and continue with fantasies, or embrace that it is all simply unexplained science. the more i watch those vids, the more i get to understand that time travel isnt possible. even after watching s;g, i wasnt convinced that mails can be send to the past by connecting it to a mini blackhole. it is in fact that the closer you get to a blackhole, the slower your time would pass. but that cannot make mails go back in the time. even if it is slow, it still moves forward. those days, i thought: "if fate rlly exists, and it is something scientists cant explain so they said it isnt real, then its as if someone's manipulating us. even the fact that i thought of that 'someone who is manipulating me' was on coordinate by them as well." it felt as if im stuck in a book as my life is being written on it. yet, in fantasy stories, once the charas talk about it, its what ppl call "breaking the 4th wall" --but im not saying i broke my book's 4th wall. i'd say that 'that' someone manipulating my every move is my author, which ppl may also call 'our god'. in the story "Steins;Gate", the god is the author, Chiyomaru. it is true that every move the characters made were scripted by him, and not by the chara's free will. now, it is crazy to think that their god is a human living with us today. truly, that felt like they broke the wall. but since it is not on their own will, it IS not breaking the 4th wall. who knows that all of these we call reality is simply a story written by a being way more superior than we can be. i rlly love this video. fate is something i've been believing for a long time, along with miracles, the 'equal' rule of the universe, god, coincidences, and stuff. im grateful of this vid. edit: though, if i dont group our universe to theirs, i'd say that after recieving dmails, and timeleaps, okabe's actions after then are those not scripted by their 'god'. after recieving messages or warning concerning of the future, the actions of those who recieved it will be led astray their supposedly path, which is controlled by fate. if fate and time are connected, then as long as one cannot manipulate time, he cannot overcome fate, which binds his every action. if one's future to connected to one's past as if they're parallel to each other, he can have his own free will that opposes time and fate. if so, then my guess is that attractor fields exists to correct these actions that went away from the certain actions and results. that so, even if the action was changed, the result wont.

[@kamuikirby688]

"if you could predict the movement of every atom in the universe, then you would be able to predict the future" reminds me of rascal does not dream of bunny senpai

[@Hobojo153]

I would say that since "we" are the physical processes in our brains, those acts of physics are our "will"

[@post-humangod2575]

This video was awsome.

[@exhalerwolf1272]

Humans: *debate on determinism vs free will* Quantum Uncertainties: Allow us to introduce ourselves

[@msrodrigues2000]

*Superdeterminism* enters chat

[@Car-bq5bw]

Fantastic!! Thank You

[@AnimarchyHistory]

I would also say that it relies entirely on the scientific and philosophical analysis of time as well. If you view time as a physical thing, a continuum which you can travel through. Then unless you live in a multiverse or "world line" style universe. The course of time is an irrelevance. Because if time is fixed like a rail you can only travel along that rail and as such the events of time are relevant to your position in it, rather than time fluxing around you. As such everything that has happened, will happen and is happening simultaneously. It is simply a matter of which position you are perceiving it from. The theory of relativity applied to temporal mechanics as it were. If you at any point play a part in events, then those events in turn are always going to happen and have already happened. It is just specific to your own time stream. Essentially we have already done everything we are going to do in life. Its just our being and consciousness have not reached the point in time where we do them. Including me typing this comment.

[@gavinvick3592]

We definitly are not free. We are bound to things like bills we gotta pay, people we have to take care of, rules we gotta follow, we gotta eat and drink, gotta stay clean and healthy. About the only thing we are free on, is our thoughts and imagination. But as far as choices and lifestyle, i argue we arent free

[@fcantil]

This comment is underrated.

[@amymusa2]

You should do more videos like this!!

[@trudikeresztes6423]

Westworld gives a pretty satisfying answer to the way free will might work. I find some similarities between WW and S;G, while also somewhat reflecting Pascal's approach to decision making. If you've seen Westworld, and mostly its third season, you probably remember that circle that represented events, choices throughout the world. I'll get back to it. Pascal was mainly talking about what outcomes we can expect from our decisions, our actions. Briefly, he represented these in a Bell curve diagram (look it up, if you don't know what it is). We can use this diagram to account for people's decisions. The more likely it is that someone will make a certain decisions, the closer those will be found to the centre of the diagram. Same goes with the circle from Westworld. The more likely a decision is to be made, that is, the easier it is to predict or determine it, the closer it is to the surface of the circle. In this way, free will is not defined by a certain boundary, but is rather transitional. The closer a decision gets to the tail of the bell's curve, or the further it goes from the surface of the circle, the higher degree of free will it represents. In Steins;Gate this meant a complex set of decisions, leading up to the world that is found somewhere between the alpha and beta timelines. That's why it was so hard to achieve, it needed decisions so unlikely that I doubt anyone except Okabe would have been able to make. Quoting from WW: "Free will does exist. It's just fucking hard."

[@aditiaputra7340]

I agree with Okabe. It's painful to watch him trying to save them both. And knowing that free will is an illusion. But... Even without free will, never give up trying to find Steins; Gate. I love the anime and your videos!

[@eslov]

we do not have free will but we need to act like we do. the universe is weird.

[@itamar6637]

Great video

[@cam609lee]

The ending is, in general, hopeful. From a literary standpoint (not philosophical), the tone would suggest that man has triumphed over nature. It is inconsistent for the series to be stating that there is no such thing as free will, which the characters ascribe value to, while at the same time coming to a close on a happy note. Also, it is not we must believe in free will and be kind for the good of society. That is arbitrary intuitionism. "Is the world to go to pot or am I to have my tea?" Of course, the vast majority agrees with this mindset though; the herd. If unnoticable, micro-causations are seen to have huge effects in Steins Gate, the firing of a single neuron (or even the flap of a butterfly's wings, halfway around the world) can likewise change everything. This chaoes theory contradicts determinism. However, as you pointed out, certain events repeated, seeming inevitable. There is definitely a peculiar and interesting balance in this series, worthy of contemplation.

[@trackernivrig]

I personally lean towards compatibilism.

[@alanlin4940]

催更 Pls update! I really like your channel!

[@archer4779]

*I AM STUNNED...*

[@linukaekanayake1138]

How did I only find this channel now???

[@PolarPruductionCo]

Being and* Time :] but great analysis!! Went well in depth while keeping it succinct, and you really did justice to the philosophers that you referenced, moreso than a lot of vids like this that I watch! Keep it up, and feel free to hmu for any ideas/help for future videos, I study philosophy @ college and am into anime/analyzing it. Maybe Foucault and Psycho-Pass??

[@yacinezater9449]

Well, I believe we're not free, well at least not "entirely" free, we are somewhat "guided" in our choices, but never forced, think of it like this, you walk on a road that you didn't choose to be in ( life ) and you find obstacles along the way, now, you don't control the circumstances and what kind of circumstances appear before you ( obstacles ), but you control your reaction to them, or at least you have the possibility to do so, so in the end, you are "partly" free.. Okabe had no choice but to discover ( invent?) the time machine, that was a circumstance forced upon him, and he had no choice in the matter, but he had a choice on what to do with it, how to deal with it, and how to feel about it, just like he chose to try and save his childhood friend from the "fate" of dying, I think the creator of the story was touching on the subject of multiple universes and multiple realities that coexist and shift based on one's choice, I'm not sure though, I could be wrong..

[@herrogamer]

I totally agree with your statement "Okabe had no choice but to discover ( invent?) the time machine, that was a circumstance forced upon him" . Okabe's choice either the future one or the current one was never exactly free because it was influenced by the prior events.

[@KoyomiMidori]

A video like this on the entire Science Adventure franchise would be nice.