What does it mean to have free will?
2006-12-23 19:00:54 · 11 answers · asked by pax veritas 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Askers’ Choice (Categories Undisclosed):
- champagne, Avalon, foghnanross
- magime
- Vandel, The mechanic, Jamie, Oopaack
- lulu, linda c
Thank you all for your near uncouth to the candid remarks, and those who applied experience and thought in their answers.
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(Quantum: Number of answers herein.)
2006-12-27 05:08:53 · update #1
When given the opportunity to choose most people can't make up their minds. Attempting to analyze free will is pointless, as the restrictions of society, law, politics and governement regulations strictly negate the freedom of that will. Rules, signs... everywhere you look, expectations of others, and our will is not our own.
Free will has little chance of survival, it's a utopian process of thought that can never be hoped to be achieved on a personal basis. We are imperfect beings incapable of handling free will, as we've never been given the opporunity to experience it. We are no more free in being given choices as we haven't been trained to logical discernment of what choices are correct for every situation. But that is merely a personal perspective. What is true for us, is not necessarily true for another. It becomes clear in this statement...
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." - Einstein.
The intellect is given to fancy, personal bias, and strong personal restrictions. There is no human being so perfect that free will should be trusted upon them. We are inherently destructive and do not hesitate to tell lies if it justifies our personal cause. Free will can only exist in complete chaos, anarchy, or another state considered to be without order.
Studies of obedience in relation to free will have always concluded we will typically in staggering numbers side with authority if given the chance to think for ourselves. I am reminded of the Milgrim Experiment to support this statement. Few of us will do what is right, we cannot be trusted. Apparently from this study, those of us that do try to make the correct choices, inherently don't really care about what transpired, and show with further deplorable numbers that we're generally apathetic.
We are trained from childhood to follow directions, to do what we are told, and to not 'talk back'. From an early age we are indoctrined with rules, and when we fail to follow them, we are typically punished in accordance with attempting to 'use' or explore our free will. We are not taught to use our minds, we are caged, branded, and forced into harsh societal dogmas and creeds without fancy or a chance to defend our need to explore personal experience.
So... to have free will, is to be free to do whatever is personally necessitated to experience the things we cannot experience without it. We are always forced into a frame of reference, each path will always leave the opportunity to ask, "What if we'd chosen another route?" Free will tends to ultimately become disappontment.
Life just has a way of stripping our freedom... I believe Murphy's Law, "If it can go wrong, it will." I am reminded of an old Twilight Zone... Time Enough At Last, quite possibly a perfect outline to what happens when we get what we want.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Enough_at_Last
Is this the process of Reciprocity [Newton]? For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction? And where the adage, be careful what you wish for stems from? Free will is an illusion of our ignorance to what is really going on in the world. Until we figure out what it is we need to fulfill the highest good, and not just working on the whims of personal want, there is no meaning in free will.
2006-12-23 22:24:25 · answer #1 · answered by Vandel 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
To be Unconstrained by the concept of fate, and To not believe in such concepts as fate or determinism, I.E. That Any action or thought is guided by fate or god.
Free will is choice. I Choose to Walk to the Bus stop instead of staying home and not going to work. I Choose To Do more than My share of the Work at My job rather That just do what Is asked of me. Call it what you will, say I was fated to Do the Things I did, It does Not change the fact That I was presented with that choice and Made One Myself. Fate Is Belief. Free will Is Choice. Fate says Regardless of what I think I must do as fate decrees.(or some such crap) Free will says There are several Choices, So I choose.
Enjoy, And Merry Christmas!
Uncle Mike
2006-12-23 20:34:39 · answer #2 · answered by Oopaack 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It means exactly just that Free Will, freedom of choice, within you to do what you feel and think at the same time hopefully you are in tune with yourself, and you act upon your own decision. Your brain is not stifled from making your own decisions. You have the power to deny the knowledge you do not accept, like brainwashing. To go where no man has ever gone before. But I must say are all those other questions happy ones? Are you happy that is your choice as well, to be happy is your own free well. Because all those questions are so convuluted, I hope you are going to have a very happy holiday.
2006-12-23 19:06:44 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Nonsense. We can not choose not to be hungry.
With individual free will connections or disconnections with Monoism, simple believe what you believe and leave others alone, Truth, Peace and Tranquility.
The nature of philosophical argument to seek universal (non-context-dependent) models for the world, partly due to the accepted practice of using counter-examples, however weird and extreme these counter-examples are, leaves context-dependent proposals vulnerable.
This tendency leads to an, in practice, assumption that such a universal view is possible once the details of particular contexts are ‘filtered out’.
If the mechanisms of free will are based in their effectiveness at separating internal and external contexts (from the point of view of modelling) then its existence and the applicability of a philosophical approach are opposed (to the extent philosophy is limited to potentially non-context-dependent arguments or truths).
One is left with a choice: accept that such free-will can exist, for which there is some evidence, albeit mostly anecdotal, or rely on the universality of philosophy (which is pure assumption since there can not be evidence for this). /1/
The farther we get throughout time keeps, one thing is certain, time and truth are both eternities of sorts that shows a degree of correlation, so the perpetual loop of questioning our existance.
2006-12-24 03:46:17 · answer #4 · answered by Jamie 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Free will? to be able to do exactly as one feels . If there ever was such a thing ,Even early kings had some restriction to there powers , societys cannot exist in such a state so it must subjugate anyone that shows such tendencys or it cannot exist as a society .
2006-12-24 03:28:11 · answer #5 · answered by ? 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
it means you have the choice to go down the right road or the wrong you choose .... don't worry there are always wee side roads if you choose the wrong path ....and no use blaming others ....its your choice ..mind you to err is human so ...I'm human and could be wrong ...anyway chill and have a great 2007
2006-12-30 06:53:54 · answer #6 · answered by bobonumpty 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Great life, great opportunity and free to do things that no one dares to do, that is free will for me.
2006-12-25 01:47:28 · answer #7 · answered by linda c 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Find yourself and you'll get the answers......nothing means anything till you know what the thing is......it's just there but you need to get it, to know what it is... and when you do .... you will not ask....because you will know what it will be.....
2006-12-25 12:05:20 · answer #8 · answered by lulu 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
another one? its taken me all morning to read broken people 1,2,and 3
2006-12-23 19:06:32 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
get a life......how many broken people questions can we expect...
2006-12-23 19:05:53 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋