I recently read an article by Alex O’Connor responding to Ben Shapiro, titled "Everything I Didn’t Say To Ben Shapiro," and I found myself deeply pondering one particular statement he made about triangles. O’Connor wrote something along the lines of: "Free will is something akin to a four-sided triangle. It doesn’t make sense even as a concept. And although with God all things are possible, a four-sided triangle is simply not a thing, and neither is free will." I wish I could say that this intriguing comparison kept me up all night, but my affinity for sleep is almost ferret-like—or perhaps even worse. So, while it didn’t prevent me from sleeping, it certainly occupied my mind.
Since learning about the possibility of multiverses in Einstein's General Theory of Relativity as well as Quantum Mechanics with its fascinating notion of teleportation through quantum entanglement in my Frontiers of Science Lecture at Columbia University, my perspective has broadened, reinforcing the idea that nothing is truly impossible. This new perspective has led me to wonder if there could indeed be such a thing as a four-sided triangle.
A triangle, by definition, is a three-sided figure, which seems to preclude any possibility of a four-sided version. So, how can we reconcile this idea to support the notion that nothing is impossible, and thus entertain the possibility of a four-sided triangle—thereby affirming the existence of free will in an atheistic world?
Let’s try a thought experiment. Imagine a person, a typical human being with two eyes, two legs, and two hands. Now, let's ruin this image in our mind’s eye—donning our American Psycho cap—and imagine amputating their feet, hands, and eyes. If this person survives this vile process, does that make them any less human?
No, it doesn’t.
Now, let’s apply the same approach to our triangle. When we ‘amputate’ the top part of the triangle, we end up with a shape resembling a four-sided triangle, or what we would call a trapezium. Despite the new name, its origin is rooted in a three-sided figure—its primary identity before modification. Similarly, a person who has been amputated may acquire labels like "disabled" or "handicapped," but their fundamental identity as a human remains.
In this way, I can argue that a four-sided triangle does indeed exist, thereby opening the door to the possibility of free will in an atheistic world.
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