I recently blasted through the FX mini-series Devs. The show was created, written, and directed by Alex Garland, who I have been enamored with since his 2014 directorial debut, Ex Machina.

Don’t worry, I’m not interested in giving spoilers but let me just say, Devs is the bomb. You should seek it out immediately if you’re at all interested in sci-fi, thrillers, quantum mechanics, the social consequences of technology, or questions of moral philosophy. That said, you don’t need to have seen it to read this post.

On top of being a brilliantly entertaining tech-thriller, Devs centers around the philosophy of determinism. If you aren’t familiar, determinism is the philosophical belief that all events are completely pre-determined by previously existing causes, i.e., everything in life is already meant to be. This includes the good aspects of life as well as the bad. Determinists believe that every avenue of reality is fated to occur precisely as it does. (I encourage you to watch this excellent video from Crash Course if you’d like more context on determinism before you continue reading.)

Since the onset of 2020, the world at large has been a bit, well, rocky. Between the COVID-19 outbreak and various other strokes of misfortune, including my own personal unemployment, Devs presented itself at a curious time in my life. It feels oddly serendipitous that a show about determinism would come at a time when the world faces such medical and economic turmoil. I feel the series arrived at a timely moment because it suggests that even the worst of events are meant to be. And I, for one, am thankful for a show that encourages us to ponder why good and bad things happen.

Oedipus, An Ancient Forerunner To Devs

Perhaps the most famous story about attempting to thwart fate, essentially a layman’s term for determinism, is that of Oedipus from Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus Rex. Most people are quite familiar with the hallowed cautionary tale about the man whose fate said he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. (You can read about it here if you don’t know the story by heart and would like a refresher.) 

The story and its implications are both disgruntling and enthralling. The moral of the Oedipus story is that no matter what you do, no matter where you go, there is a predetermined fate you are essentially ‘programmed’ to fulfill. By going out of your way and attempting to avoid your fate, as did Oedipus, you wind up steering yourself directly into it. Again, I don’t want to give any Devs spoilers, but this is essentially what the show is about. 

In Devs, Nick Offerman plays the head of a Google-esque tech company who is deadset on hard determinist thinking. He asserts that life moves on “rails” like a train, unable to veer off course. This thematic undercurrent of the show is not all that makes Devs captivating to watch. However, it’s the aspect of the show which has caused me to continue thinking about and analyzing Devs ever since the season finale debuted.

Is Determinism Good Or Bad?

I find it curious how, in most cases, people regard “fate” with a positive connotation, as if there’s beauty or romance in the idea that something is meant to happen – like falling in love with one’s soulmate – yet that same romantic connotation doesn’t extend to determinism. 

The hitch in the giddyup, far as determinism goes, is its implication that we as humans aren’t morally responsible for our actions. Hard determinists believe that if we commit terrible acts then it’s because we were always destined to do so and we had no true say in the act. The decision was not ours but that of the universe. This extends to events that happen to us, an example of which might be the current COVID pandemic. Determinism says that it’s all – from pandemics to serial killers – part of a predetermined cosmic roadmap. Thanks to this, determinism is a decidedly sharp double-edged sword. On one edge, it feels reductive and like a lame moral cop-out. On the other, it helps justify many of the injustices in the world and makes them easier to stomach. 

I, like many people, am appalled by the unfortunate types of actions and phenomena we see or read about every day. I’m hardpressed to believe such events as tsunamis decimating towns or young children dying of cancer could occur if there were an entity with some semblance of “choice” in the matter. I know that scores of people believe in God and I’m in no way dispelling God. I’m simply observing the age-old ontological conundrum purporting that an all-perfect and/or all-benevolent God would not create such tragedies. To do so would be contradictory. The religious believer might reply, “God works in mysterious ways.” To which a determinist might retort, “Yeah, well, so does determinism.”

Determinism Is Apathetic

To me, the idea of a benevolent God allowing for pandemics and murderers, etc. is contradictory and more than mildly upsetting. Meanwhile, the idea of a deterministic universe allowing for such tragedies strikes me as equally terrible but far less egregious, morally speaking. That’s simply an objective universe doing what it does. There is no pretense that the universe must be benevolent and perfect. Therefore, to accept a deterministic view of reality is akin to accepting God. They have similarities but determinism is without the inherent contradictions of God needing to be all-benevolent. 

However, the apathetic disposition of a deterministic universe is not a particularly friendly one. One of the main reasons for religion is to find hope and optimism in the face of hardship and tragedy. You won’t find that same optimism in determinism. Therefore, I don’t find the concept of determinism to be inherently good or bad. It’s impassive and apathetic. Determinism doesn’t call into question whether it’s good or bad that an event occurred. It only posits that the event was going to occur. So really, it’s in your court whether you see cosmic apathy as a good thing or a bad thing. Personally, I find it fairly depressing but not necessarily “bad”.

Determinism Can Be Tough To Argue With

Hard determinism is a painfully difficult philosophy to refute. A determinist can rebuke pretty much any argument with relative ease. Like the characters in Devs, a determinist will tell you that everything that happens is the result of physical processes and all physical processes can be traced back to previous ones. Even seemingly random events such as a coin toss can be ascribed to causality, based on such factors as the density of the air in the room.

This extends to topics such as our decisions and emotions, even though they don’t exactly exist in the physical world. If you’re angered by someone telling you that you don’t have free will, well, you were always destined to get angry about it. If you choose to quit reading this article because you think it’s boring, you were always going to do so. You see my point? It can be impossibly difficult to argue against determinism once the debate has begun.

I would be hardpressed to say that I truly believe in determinism. It feels too reductive for me. I’m not a fan of the idea that we aren’t morally responsible for our actions. And perhaps, emotionally, I simply want to believe that I have free will and an ability to shape my own fate. However, I recognize that it’s very hard to argue with. It’s mostly this difficulty to refute it that leads me to find determinism terribly intriguing and annoyingly plausible. 

To Believe In Or Not To Believe In Determinism 

Perhaps the biggest dilemma here, for me, is the disparity between the scientific laws which govern our physical world and what we know as “soul”. I believe in the concept of soul and therefore I’m inclined to believe in free will. You can’t touch a soul in any nonfigurative manner so how could my soul-based decisions be preordained? How could my thoughts be impacted by previous events if they’re emerging “out of nowhere” i.e. from my soul? 

That’s the thing. Our thoughts and decisions feel nonphysical but they are in fact the results of chemical processes in the brain. These are in turn biological processes, which are in turn physical processes. And it stands to reason that physical events cause and foment subsequent physical events. 

Think about Newton’s third law: every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Every physical action spurs another one. So who’s to say that the chemical processes that produce my thoughts weren’t triggered by previous events and physical processes? Maybe every choice I make is simply another domino in a long line of physical actions and reactions.

Time and time again, I find that I don’t want to believe in determinism but, the more I learn about it, the more difficult it feels not to. I’m confident in my free will to a certain degree but Devs, though fictional, makes a very compelling case against it. The sense of control I have in my daily life gives me solace and yet it’s impossible to know whether we truly have free will or simply the illusion of it. It’s possible for us to feel like we chose to get fast food when in reality that choice was predetermined. 

So, in the end, whether you want to believe in determinism is your choice. (Or is it?)

Determinism In My Own Life

Right now, I’m an unemployed 26-year-old who’s trying to be a professional writer, filmmaker, musician, or some combination of those. Truthfully, I’m extremely happy with where I’m at. I’m happy but I certainly don’t feel like I have anything “figured out”. I’m thankful for this time in many ways. Unemployment has given me an opportunity to work on writing, music, and other creative ventures while I look for my next job. However, at the same time, there’s a perpetual twinge of uncertainty and worry in being unemployed at my age. Or at any age, really. 

I’m sure that I’m not the only unemployed, 20-something artist in the world right now. I have no self-pity with regard to my unemployment. Rather, I’m stuck with curiosity, wondering what led me to be in the position I’m in. Watching Devs and being provoked to consider determinism has inspired me to step back and look at my life more objectively for a moment. It caused me to consider whether my current situation may have been predetermined or not.

Devs made me wonder if there are certain turns I made in the past that led to my present scenario. I think there probably are. Was I always fated to lead myself here and spend this period of my life on unemployment benefits? Am I meant to struggle in figuring out a “next step” while I continue to write and make art “for the love of it” even though, really, I want to be doing it professionally? Maybe. Perhaps to be an unemployed artist is my millennial version of an Oedipus-like fate. 

An Argument For Free Will

That notion is a touch unsettling but, rather than dwell in dismay, I’ve found a greater appreciation for the ways in which my current decisions can impact my future. For me, that means simple choices like sitting down and writing every day. It means prioritizing health and creating strong habits. Whether determinism is true or not, thinking about it has reminded me that things don’t happen without cause. If you want to be a writer then you have to write. If you want to be a musician or professional athlete then you have to practice. Effects have causes.

This leads me to believe that life is some weird combination of determinism and free will. It’s as if life is determined yet we have the free will to make different decisions and course-correct at any time we like. Philosophy considers this either soft determinism or compatibilism. (Here is another awesome Crash Course video about compatibilism.) Yeah, maybe there is some level of determinism to the universe. I’m alright with that because I respect the physical laws which govern us. But I feel confident that we still maintain a certain amount of control. If effects have causes then I can control the causes. 

I can control what I eat and cause myself to be in better shape. I can control when I go to sleep and make myself more rested. And I can control how much work I put in and cause myself to improve at the things I love to do. The writer who doesn’t write is destined not to be a writer. However, the writer who doesn’t write for years then, one day, decides to start writing creates a new outcome for themselves where they in fact end up being a writer. 

I’m Thankful for Devs

It’s not very often that a show is bold enough to poke at the unrelenting and unsavory aspects of our existence. Devs does so with philosophical aplomb but also with wonderful character development, a piercing score, and breathtakingly deliberate cinematography. All in all, Devs is a brilliant work of art whether you believe in determinism or not. 

I’m thankful for a show that has entertainment value (the acting is spot on and the plot functions as a gripping thriller) while begging the viewer to consider questions that reach far beyond the proscenium of the show itself. Devs gave me eight hours of quality viewing and left me with so much more than a recommendation for my friends. 

Devs left me with a new philosophical curiosity and a deeper desire to understand the world around me. It made me question my place in the world and how my decisions impact it. Yeah, sometimes questioning your place in the world isn’t the comfiest endeavor. Although, doing so can lead to a deeper appreciation for your place and how you arrived there. 

I might be unemployed, in the midst of a global pandemic, and overall “figuring it out” but that’s okay. Life is confusing right now but I respect and appreciate that this is part of the process. Maybe it’s all pre-determined and maybe it isn’t. In a deterministic world, it was a series of actions, causes, and effects that led me here. In a libertarian world, it was my series of decisions and subsequent actions that led me here. Either way, I ended up in the same place. I see beauty in the ambiguity. And now, it’s my decisions that will lead me to wherever I’m meant to go next. 

Michael

Post Script

Determinist thinking bears great similarity to the concept of a universal algorithm, which I discussed in my previous post. Hop over to that article to read more about the differentiation between God and a determined cosmic algorithm.