i just do not get this free will thing...
we are not really free to do anything... really are we?
2006-06-26 01:22:10 · 10 answers · asked by Audiology@Home 2 in Social Science ➔ Psychology
If you haven't seen it yet, the "Matrix" movie trilogy offers a nice and accessible exploration of free will vs. determinism.
(The second movie in particular discusses it deeply; and the whole conclusion of Neo's life is both forced on him as well as chosen by him.)
I've thought about it most of my life, and I still end up going in circles. Here are a few of my thoughts:
1. Regardless of which is actually right, human beings need to at least feel as if they have "free will" -- the ability to make meaningful decisions with ramifications -- or they quickly lose the desire to live.
2. We are determined in many ways. Our genetic biology is determined. Our family is determined. Our environment is determined. We basically are thrown into this life and react to everything around us that is acting on us.
So even our future becomes determined: We react in ways that make sense to us, based on experience (i.e., environment) and temperament (biology) -- so our reactions are determined. And our reactions now lead directly to what choices we are allowed to make in the future.
[If I hurt someone now, my choices with them later are reduced by that action; if I major in English now, I can't become an engineer later without additional training, etc.]
So one could say that we are completely determined, in a sense. Even what feels like "free will" is simply a limited set of choices based on our biology and environment.
3. Yet we always have the capacity to CHOOSE the opposite of something, just because we've imagined it. It doesn't have to make any sense whatsoever, it doesn't have to be beneficial or logical, but we can still simply choose to do it "just because."
This suggests free will.
And yet, it's not that easy. The extent to which someone is willing to use their "will" is determined by past experience and biology. A person who has seen that life is uncontrollable, or who seeks a rush, is more apt to make "random" choices. So even the "random choice" -- the freest we can make in the raw sense -- is still directed by our past.
In the end, I come back to #1. We feel that life is meaningless without free will. We also perceive that our will is free, no matter what logical arguments we make. Morality is based on the idea that we choose what we do (to some degree). Without free will, there is no morality.
Human beings believe morality is important. Our experience and our desire is that our wills are free. So I must live as if my will is truly free and not "forced on me" by my past.
2006-06-26 02:45:30 · answer #1 · answered by Jennywocky 6 · 6⤊ 2⤋
Free will is an actual thing, it is all you can do on the basis of the law as long as you don't hurt anyone else's free will. The only reason that we seem to not exercise it is because most of us are lazy and most of us are not doing our job. Also some being stingy and doing things out of order causes there to be boundaries on things that we are able to do in a day. It is mostly not our fault that we think that we have no free will but it is the fault of those who are lazy and of a dead personality.
2006-06-26 03:42:56 · answer #2 · answered by Knowledge 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course we are free to do anything - within the constraints of accepting the consequences. We can know that there are serious consequences for some willful acts, yet still choose to do them.
Most of us choose to be guided by our values or the laws around us in making our choices - and our free will also allows us to make the right choice. It doesn't have to be the wrong choice to be free will.
2006-06-26 02:29:32 · answer #3 · answered by Granny Fran 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no. u only have the ability to make choices. if u had free will, then u could will anything like disappear when u click ur fingers!!! u r bound by the rules of the universe, so u can only choose from a limited number of paths.
2006-06-26 02:07:28 · answer #4 · answered by ??? 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is no such thing as free will.
Every action is a reaction,
And never will be made a decision
Defying the scales of disposition.
2006-06-26 03:28:59 · answer #5 · answered by rlw 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, we can do what we want within limits - such as law, moral code, or personal values. Depends on what you define "free will" as.
2006-06-26 01:41:52 · answer #6 · answered by Darknight 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes we are but law holds most of you back from doing what you want.
2006-06-26 01:27:13 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
are you 10 years old
2006-06-26 01:41:30 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes that was a good movie
2006-06-26 03:26:08 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure. But we are not stupid enough to use it very much.
2006-06-26 01:25:52 · answer #10 · answered by Puppy Zwolle 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋