How It Would Be a Net-Sum-Positive To Educate Everyone On The Illusion Of Free Will

 ​A Christian on Youtube ( Bread of Life) says
" I agree that determinism can be comforting, and can help people forgive others more easily. ". She then asks: "But it also absolves humans of moral responsibility, doesn't it? Are you okay with absolving dictators for slaughtering thousands or millions? Just wondering. Thanks!"

--------------------------------------------------- Excellent question, Rebekah. My answer is: Yes. It can have that effect. It can make such people feel absolved of past, current, and future moral obligations. I wouldn't say it absolves them. Such behaviors are still "bad" within the context of having objectively rational and healthfully-emotional reasons to decry those behaviors. Granted, there is still a necessarily-subjective aspect of all morality; since it all comes down to what a person subjectively values. And yet,... Since everyone *wants* to avoid their own suffering and maximize their own states of wellness, ... And since every nation's respective health-care systems are predicated on a generally ubiquitous perception of what counts as "health", "healing", "injury", and "disease", ... We should just be glad we can at least agree on that much. From here, we proceed to discuss how we can collectively progress in all related goals. But until we're all "caught up to speed" about such matters, knowledge that our wills are not "Free" is dangerous knowledge; in the hands of dangerous people. This is the reason Daniel Dennett advises that we stop telling people they don't have Free will (link). Discovering this fact does cause sociopaths, psychopaths, clinical narcissists, dark empaths, etc. to feel like they can 'more completely' let go of the idea that they're responsible for their behaviors. However, this could be prevented and remedied with specific forms of necessary education. This is why world-renowned physicist, Sabine Hossenfelder, says 

"You don't have free will, but don't worry." (Link)

The underlying problem isn't simply that many people lack conscience. The underlying problem is that people who lack conscience typically fail to realize that they are actually sabotaging their own life when they behave in ways that sabotage trust and connection with other humans. *Those people could be educated/trained into pro-social and otherwise ethical behaviors ... just by training them to think more logically about the real consequences of thinking and behaving destructively. [*For reference, see the Youtube video entitled "A Scientist's Journey Through Psychopathy | Google Zeitgeist" (link)] This is partly why many skeptics advise that we should work to educate people on both * the fact that nobody has Free Will, and * the reasons why it still makes sense to behave ethically. This would, I believe, help humanity grow collectively faster. The temporary result of some people behaving worse would be a case of society moving one step back. But then many steps forward. When it comes to educating people about this dangerous knowledge, ... In the short term, It has both effects. In toxic mind-soil, it sprouts as a deadly weed. In good mind-soul, it sprouts as a flower of healing. This is also the same reason some skeptics argue that religions (like Christianity) are useful for keeping dangerous minds on a mental leash. It's basically what Patton Oswalt was talking about in his skit about "The Insanity Of Faith" (link). Religious faith is crazy. But it's also often helpful. And it's often harmful. And yet, since there's no way to really get rid of religions, we should be focused on:
improving educational standards,
in order to:
a.) foster an environment where people will more often outgrow religion, and b.) foster ever-improving versions of religions. Meanwhile, ... The conversation about how it could actually be a net-sum-positive for humanity if everyone discovers the truth about Free Will ... is a much longer discussion. So for now, I'll just give one example of the ways it would help us: The Criminal Justice Systems of our nations. Right now, most nations (including the USA) are still devoted to their hate-and-vengeance based approach to dealing with accused and convicted criminals. And yes, I mostly blame bible-based religions for that. But I'll save most of that discussion for a later time.
So here, we have the basic idea that criminals make people suffer. So now we're going to make their life a living hell; until we feel minimally satisfied they've "paid" for their crimes in the form of their own horrific suffering. Even when we release a former criminal, we keep making their life hell; in the form of secondary ongoing consequences to their ability to get their life back together. [Note, also, how I carefully chose the expression "former criminal". This is an important point for the Ray Comfort(s) of the world. Someone who previously did an unjust thing, ... is not sin-stained. So they don't need such a stain to be mentally washed-clean by religious ritual blood magic. Instead, .. They need the stigma washed clean by educating society. They need their conscience wiped clean by participating in effective rehabilitation; which must include restorative justice (link). And then they need their public record wiped clean, so they can rebuild their life.] Revenge-based systems of "Justice" actually perpetuate the cycles of crime and the decay of civilization. In contrast, recognizing crimes as the manifestation of pure physics ... allows us to approach justice in an objective and restorative way. That, in turn, maximizes a society's ability to actually reduce the rates of new and repeat criminal activities. Understanding the entire equation as a matter of complex causes generating complex effects, ... empowers us with the "will" and the objectivity to treat criminals as repairable and restorable human beings. This is among the reasons I don't like the idea of Christians rising to political power. It's a direct conflict of interests to entrust people to societal reform when their religion actually thrives off of suffering, crime, ignorance, etc ... in the form of having desperately-vulnerable people to "save" and then conscript into their mind-control-cults and destructive culture-war. That is a problem made worse when so many Christians think there's not much point to healing this world, because : The Worsening Of The World is "prophesied" and The End Of The World is both "prophesied" and welcomed.

I have other points I could make about this. But I don't want to wander off too far from the topic. My point is this: As some Scandinavian/Nordic countries have proven (link), ... When we identity and treat the actual causes of criminal behaviors,
and
when we embrace the idea that people are NOT disposable
(ignoring how Christians and Muslims say otherwise), ... We can actually make real progress towards a world where everyone is much safer. This is mainly why less-religious/more-secular societies have the lowest crime and the best health statistics (link). Granted, they have plenty of personal-God-theists mixed together with a lot of deists and atheists. However, most of their theists are *not* fundamentalists. They aren't reading their holy books literally. And so, they aren't caught up in societally-divisive and hateful polemics. They have, to a measurable extent (albeit, not fully), matured past all that; - with the continued positive influence of secular ideals such as logical thinking. That makes it much more safe to educate people on the reality of us not having Free Will. It's still not entirely safe. I recognize this. However, the consequences of such dangerous knowledge are really a matter of growing pains. To reach collectively maturity, we simply must go through them. As we educate and improve the mechanisms of society, we begin to break the cycles which create dangerous minds in the first place; while becoming better equipped to help (and otherwise contend with) the fewer and fewer which persist.