Free will: Real or illusory?

Question

No, I’m not wondering, myself. I’ve pretty much got it figured out. What I’m doing here is trying to provoke thought on the subject. Seems simple enough, right? “I make decisions, I have free will.” Well, how do you make your decisions? What factors are involved? Now what determined how those factors were defined? Other factors? What determined how those were defined? Are you making your own decisions? Or were they all made, and set, along with every other incident that has ever or will ever occur, whenever the universe began?

Note that this concept, if properly considered, cannot be used to evade responsibility for one’s actions, as responses, reactions, and consequences for those actions are equally preset.

Answer 1

I used to believe in free will 100%.

I've changed my position to the exact opposite, and I never ever thought I would.

I picture the universe before the Big Bang as a rack of pool balls.

Then, there was some sort of "First Cause", which acts as "the break" in the game of pool. Now if the positions of each ball, their velocities, and angle of the cue ball are known, one can predict with absolute certainty where each will fall. This is because our universe has reliable laws of physics.

Suppose in our example, the 7-ball suddenly became "self aware". Could he alter his course? No! He would likely believe that he is moving OF HIS OWN VOLITION, exactly like he wants to. When he comes to rest, that is the "end" of his life.

I believe we are the 7-ball. The factors prior to us occuring have set things into motion. We "feel" the illusion of free will when we choose a turkey sandwich for lunch or a new pair of pants. What we forget is that we don't know WHY we want those things.

One final thing that sent me over the edge of full fledged Determinism was the fact that everything in the universe has a cause. Every cause also has an effect, and so forth. Now, let us assume that a 1 year old baby does not have free will (if this isnt early enough, reduce the age to a time when its safe to say there was no free will). If we DID have free will, this would mean there is a "threshold" of time when we DIDNT have free will...but then *poof* instantly, we just have it?

That would make the free will of human beings the ONLY UNCAUSED EVENT in the universe...to me, that just seems preposterous, and even arrogant.

Answer 2

I believe God has a plan for me, but I don't believe this plan includes moment-by-moment decisions and actions, which I believe are up to my free will. In this way I am responsible for my actions but also operate under God.

There are two problems with the "no free will at all" concept you put forward as an alternative, which are storage space and delivery. If all actions for all time for all creatures have been predetermined, where is all this information stored? In theory one would have to create a universe the size of our own to store this data. And then, if this second universe operates under "no free will" another universe would be needed to store that data, on and on through infinity and so the concept breaks down. The other problem is how to deliver stored control information to the recipients here on earth and in our universe. This would require machinery and methods the size of the universe, and they would need to be created as well which would require additional universes, again to infinity.

I hope this has been reasonably clear. I prefer to take my beliefs on faith and not think too much about them, leaving that to the philosophers.

Answer 3

Wow, that's really thought provoking! I do believe we all were given a free will to choose what we do each day, each minute. Factors change as we grow and mature as we build on past experiences and mistakes. This process starts when we are babies and hear the word no, just before we touch something that will harm us... we eventually change our behavior through what we learned. I do not believe that everything is predetermined before the beginning of time. That's what free will is all about - but as a Christian I do believe that utimately God's will for my life will be carried out in my life. I also believe that my free will, and making wrong choices, affects God's will for me (messes up His plans at times). Utimately, every choice I make has a consequence - good choices have good ones, and bad choices have bad ones, they they all have a consquence nontheless. I suppose a lot of the definitions for making decisions, for me, came from my parents and what was important to them - which came from their parents and what was important to them, and so on.......

Answer 4

If you presume that you have free will, that assumes many things that may not be applicable. A person who bases his/her decisions on what they want to do must live in a social vacuum where the impact of that decision is not important, or of no importance to them. In order to do that, a person must be willing to disregard friends and family who may be impacted by the decision. Strangers will not matter in the least. We are all subject to social pressures to conform to group norms. We do not live in a vacuum, so the impact of our decisions come back to us in the way of peer reviews, and comments and confrontation. Unless you live alone on a mountain top, people do have an impact on you. I believe free will to be more illusory than real.

For a social psychopath, none of the normal restraints apply, because they simply do not care or like other people.

Answer 5

The problem here is that the question poses a false dichotomy, suggesting we either have absolute free will or are absolutely constrained.

The truth lies in the middle. Certainly we have some ability to exercise choice, but at the same time those choices are certainly constrained by our nature, our personal connections, or history, our temperament, etc.

I suppose an answer that doesn't say either absolutely yes or absolutely no isn't as provocative, but I think the truth is generally found between the extremes.

Answer 6

definite, we do have loose will. Ethics is the study of human moral interplay. It does have meaning. Morality is actual, yet that does no longer recommend that there are absolute values for what's unavoidably proper or incorrect. somewhat a lot something might want to correctly be ethically justified, and there are some circumstances even as i imagine it may be both rational and functional to apply punishment in an ethical way.

Answer 7

I think that is over analytical. What you said sounds an awful lot like fate.
Our will is to choose a course of action based on our experiences and beliefs, with regards to the consequences after ward.
I f I chose a course of action, influenced by intelligent interference, that altered my natural intent and or original course, then I would call that manipulation.

Thought provoking though. I like it.

Answer 8

An illusion.
Free implies no constrains. But we are all constrained by values, rights and wrongs, good and bad, positives and negatives, etc.
Will implies choice. Again the choice is really limited, there are no infinite number of choices.
Together Free Will is an illusion sold by various religions.

Answer 9

from a poem I wrote a while ago

Sweet illusions, grand delusions,
how I roam these endless fields
never knowing if I'm growing,
Is it fantasy or real?

I'm a raindrop
cool and smooth
slipping, sliding, hiding
in humidity
I'm a puddle
A deep deep ocean blue

East or West?
surrender quiet to this
quandry..what decides
which way is best

Am I leaving or
arriving? My eyes
can see the both to be
Am I thinking what
I'm being
or being what
I'm thinking
Am I really what
I think I be?

Sweet illusions, grand delusions
kiss me and I'll fly away
there are no answers
just allusion
and one by one
they fill my day

Answer 10

Free will is an illusion... There is no freedom of will.

Sure it might seem like we have free will, but we really don't. It's an impossible thing to have.