For this essay, I focused on Ted Chiang’s “What’s Expected of Us.” Chiang is an American science fiction writer based out of Washington state. For his work, Chiang has won four Nebula awards, four Hugo awards, among other prestigious awards. “What’s Expected of Us” is a science fiction short story first published in 2005. I felt the passage “What’s Expected of Us” was significant because of the fictional way it addresses the concept of free will. This is an important concept considering that every day we make choices that affect and alter both our lives and the lives of others. It is also critical to note that free will implies moral responsibility. If an individual has complete control over their actions, it is implied that they will recognize the responsibility and importance behind their actions. Without free will, this sense of moral responsibility would dissapear. In this reading, Chiang meditates on the possibility and the consequences of a society without free will.
Chiang begins by introducing a product called “the Predictor.” In this story, Chiang is writing to his readers from the future, warning us of this technology and its implications. In this world, the Predictor is described as a small remote-like object. This object contains a button and an LED light, and the LED light is said to flash right before you press the button. At face value, this object appears harmless, almost like a gag gift, but as Chiang’s writing continues, it becomes clear that the Predictor is far more sinister. At the beginning of Chiang’s short story, he conveys how people first interacted with this intriguing object. Most proclaimed that it felt like they were partaking in a weird game where the only objective was to fool the Predictor and find a way to “break the rules.” After playing with the Predictor, people soon discovered that this object could not be outsmarted. It would, without fail, predict when the button was about to be pressed. The implication of this Machine is that all actions and decisions can be calculated and deciphered by an algorithm, thereby disproving free will. With this new revelation of human tendencies, how do people respond?
Chiang believes that “every form of behavior is compatible with determinism” (Chiang). Determinism characterizes all action as ultimately determined by causes external to the will. Therefore, the concept of free will, which is defined as the ability to make a self-determined choice, cannot be compatible with determinism. Chiang develops this concept of determinism further with the statement: “One dynamic system might fall into a basin of attraction and wind up at a fixed point, whereas another exhibits chaotic behavior indefinitely, but both are completely deterministic” (Chiang). Here, Chiang hones in on the power of these external factors. Though two systems can be identical in their exact origins, their outcomes could be polar opposites. A prime example of this is when Chiang discusses the different impacts that the Predictor has on people for no apparent reason. He writes, “It’s all predetermined who will descend into akinetic mutism and who won’t. There’s nothing anyone can do about it — you can’t choose the effect the Predictor has on you” (Chiang). This quote supports the conclusion that external forces must be at play for two similar systems to have various outcomes.
Chiang continues to reveal how society handles this simple object’s disproof of free will. He first overviews the past theories of free will in this society. All arguments regarding free will were seen as irrefutable. Of this, Chiang states, “The experience of having free will is too powerful for an argument to overrule” (Chiang). Here, Chiang appears to be insinuating that free will is an illusion. People fall into this illusion because of the fact their decisions feel free. Chiang argues that this false sensation of free will is enough to brainwash people and trick them into thinking they possess it. The only way to disprove this argument was through demonstration, which is what the Predictor did. As people observed this demonstration and began to understand that their choices have no meaning or liberty, they began to develop something that Chiang introduces as akinetic mutism. He describes the symptoms of this as like being in a “walking coma.” Chiang speculates that in this society the sense of an immutable future began to sink in because of the Predictor. This caused some people to see that none of their choices had any meaning, so instead they “chose” not to make any choices. According to Chiang’s warning, around ⅓ of Predictor users were to end up in the hospital because they refused to feed themselves.
Chiang does not, however, describe the effects the other ⅔ of people would endure. Though akinetic mutism had previously been an issue in this society, it was rare, and the discovery of limited will drastically increased this phenomenon. The irony is that the only thing that actually changed in the face of these revelations was the people’s concepts of themselves. People who used the Predictor still had the same capacity to make decisions as they did before. Yet, even though people were aware that they could continue to carry on with life and “make decisions,” they claimed that they couldn’t because they now knew that their decisions carried no meaning or true freedom. Their response to not having free will was to “choose” not to choose. Through this new idea of life and choices, people in this society lost all motivation and passion for life, demonstrating an intense loss of productivity in a society that has discovered its lack of free will. Through these comically contradicting choices, Chiang is clearly attempting to point out the obvious flaws of this mindset of emptiness. After all, he states this is the whole reason he wrote this piece.
After reading and analyzing this short story by Chiang, his intent with this piece is evident. Chiang is portraying the importance of free will, or at least the illusion of free will. Chiang illustrates this idea by demonstrating the negative impacts that knowing they have no choice over their decisions would have on people. In addition to displaying this concept, Chiang shows the consequences of failure. If we cannot maintain a productive society where we can still believe our decisions matter, our society will begin to crumble, as presented in Chiang’s story. For these reasons, we must never fully know if we possess free will, and we must always choose to make decisions that will further humanity.
Works Cited
(I agree and have pledged all work above)
Chiang, Ted. “What’s Expected of Us.” Nature 436, 6 July 2005, https://www-nature-com.proxy048.nclive.org/articles/436150a#article-info.
