ShmoopTube

00:00

[ musical flourish ]

00:02

And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by troubling existential questions,

00:07

such as "where in the world did the remote control go?"

00:11

What about that second sock in the dryer?

00:13

Hmm. All right, check out the following passage.

00:15

All right... [ mumbles ]

00:19

[ mumbling continues ]

00:25

[ further mumbling ]

00:30

[ mumbles ] All right.

00:37

The main idea of this passage is what? And here are the potential answers.

00:41

[ mumbles ]

00:46

Ah, free will. Well, we did choose to behead our sister's doll...

00:49

Or did a sequence of biochemical reactions

00:52

choose to do it for us? Hmm?

00:55

Well, this passage references the continuing debate over free will.

00:58

But it's not taking any one side.

01:00

It's not saying whether free will definitely does or does not exist,

01:03

so we can safely eliminate option A.

01:06

Sorry, just because some people say something's true

01:08

doesn't mean it's been proven true. You know, like that.

01:12

All right, we can rule out option D, as well.

01:14

The paragraph briefly summarizes multiple sides in the debate over free will,

01:18

and while the passage does state that some argue that

01:21

free will is impossible,

01:23

it's not the main point of the passage.

01:25

It's just one side of the coin. Like that.

01:26

And, because we're not in a Batman movie, keep in mind that

01:29

we're talking about a coin that has two sides.

01:31

Yeah, remember that scene? That was cool.

01:33

All right, option B can also go.

01:35

One ethical question in the free will debate is whether people

01:37

can be held responsible for their actions.

01:40

But can we just do whatever we like without consequences?

01:43

Well, alas, this is also just a supporting detail,

01:47

and not the main point of the passage.

01:49

The main point is that the question of free will is an ongoing

01:52

essential debate.

01:53

Philosophers have argued over it for centuries.

01:55

And, in all likelihood, they'll continue to argue about it for

01:58

quite some time. So option C is the answer.

02:00

Now, our next existential question:

02:02

why are we all here?

02:04

Oh, that's right. The ASVAB. [ chuckles ] Nevermind.

02:06

[ laughter ]

Full Transcript