Hofstadter, Dennett - The Mind's I

Is God a Taoist? 325MORTAL: But If I choose now to be rid of free will, then all my subsequent actions willbe sins, not of the future, but of the present moment in whch I choose not to have freewill.GOD: Sounds like you are pretty badly trapped, doesn’t it?MORTAL: Of course I am trapped! You have placed me in a hideous double bind. Nowwhatever I do is wrong. If I retain free will, I will continue to sin, and if I abandonfree will (with your help, of course), I will now be sinning in so doing.GOD: But by the same token, you place me in a double blind. I am willing to leave youfree will or remove it as you choose, ut neither alternative satisfies you. I wish to helpyou, but it seems I cannot.MORTAL: True!GOD: But since it is not my fault, why are you still angry with me?MORTAL: For having placed me in such a horrible predicament in the first place!GOD: But, according to you, there is nothing satisfactory I could have done.MORTAL: You mean there is nothing satisfactory you can do now, but that does notmean that there is nothing you could have done.GOD: Why? What could I have done?MORTAL: Obviously you should never have given me free will in the first place. Nowthat you have given it to me, it is too late – anything I do will be bad. But you shouldnever have given it to me in the first place.GOD: Oh, that’s it! Why would it have been better had I never given it to you?MORTAL: Because then I never would have been capable of sinning at all.GOD: Well, I’m always glad to learn from my mistakes.MORTAL: What!GOD: I know, that sounds sort of blasphemous, doesn’t it? It almost involves a logicalparadox! On the one hand, as you have been taught, it is morally wrong for anysentient being to claim that I am capable of making mistakes. On the other hand, Ihave the right to do anything. But I am also a sentient being. So the question is, Do Ido or do I not have the right to claim that I am capable of making mistakes?MORTAL: That is a bad joke! One of your premises is simply false. I have not beentaught that it is wrong for any sentient being to doubt your