Does cause and effect allow for choice and randomness?

Question

We are told my science that our thoughts, memories, and state of consciousness are physical entities composed of chemical and electrical reactions taking place in time and space and subject to cause and effect. If this is the case then is it possible for chemicals to make choices? If we had a super computer that could track every cause all the way back to the Big Bang would everything that has evolved since then including my thoughts be predicted by this theoretical super computer. I am bothered by this because if our science is based on cause and effect then it appears to me there is no choice and that I am just chemicals reacting to nature and nuture. I would imagine that following this line of reasoning would reek havoc on our judicial system. Religious dogma as a solution has no appeal to me. Can anyone tell me how I get out of this conundrum? I am sure I am not the only one to have this thought and would appreciate what other minds have to say on this topic.
Kind Regards,
Eric

Answer 1

relax. check out quantum physics. there's plenty of room for free will in science. while you're at it, check out a movie called, "What the BLEEP do we know?" it is based around interviews with theoretical physicists talking about exactly the question you bring up.

Answer 2

I have a simple enough resolution. Cause and effect have no bearing on conscious choice. Not everything you think and do is a chemical effect to a cause. You're going down the road, just to be going. You come to a fork in the road. Do you choose the left fork, or the right? That's not chemical effect, it's conscious decision making. While it's true that we are the effect of our environment, for the most part, we still make every day choices in life that have nothing to do with a cause. We don't just react, we also act. How can taking the first step be an effect?

Hope that helped at least a little. If not... Well, I tried.

Answer 3

The only way to crack the code is to be 100% conscious of your own life, then one would control life, and one would not be "victim" of fate.

Answer 4

true.