How do you know that you have free will ?

Question

Rob is close.

You guys are great keep going

so you are saying you have to choose to be chosen

So you are saying there are three wills in the world ( good evil and yours )

Answer 1

On the contrary, it's trivially easy to prove that free will does not exist. Our brains are nothing more than computers, our minds are nothing more than the software running on the brain, all nice and deterministic.

Read up on Church-Turing Thesis.

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Wow... lots of people confusing the ability to make a choice with free will.

Funny.

#include
void main(void)
{

char buffer[128];
int x;

printf("Give me a number: ");
scanf("%d", buffer);
x = atoi(buffer); // convert the inputted text to a number

if( x == 3 )
printf("You gave me three!\n");
else
printf("You didn't give me three!\n");
}



If I compile and run this C program, the computer will ask me for a number. If I give it 3, it will choose to spit out "You gave me three!", otherwise it chooses to spit out, "You didn't give me three!"

How does making a choice prove free will if a computer can make a choice?

Answer 2

Because I can...

kill someone because they looked at me funny, get an abortion, give a stranger a thousand dollars, pray to whatever God I choose, change religions, be a bum, follow the laws of the land, give birth, marry whomever suits my fancy, cheat on them the next day, divorce the following month, live wherever I want, either follow or disobey the government's rules regarding such movement, join the military, protest the war, feed my kids McDonald's every day, or not feed my children at all. Shall I go on?

The question is, what rules do I place on MYSELF regarding free will? It's a very powerful thing, and can be very destructive if used improperly. Everyone knows this, and this plays a very large part in your belief system. No matter which religion you believe in, or choose NOT to believe in, there is always a means of restraint. Believers know there will be eternal consequenses. Nonbelievers know there will be consequenses here on earth. It's all in an effort to control your basic animal instincts to have the urge to rip the throat out of whoever does you wrong. That's what separates humans from animals...free will.

Blessings

Blessings

Answer 3

Shalom,

Free will - man's ability to knowingly choose between true and false, right and wrong, good and bad -is an essential part of creation.
In order for a person to have free will at least two possibilities must exist; otherwise, what is there to choose from...

...and at the precise moment when creation went from potential to actual, duality came into being. Indeed it was duality, God's Oneness on the one hand and a world of physical creation on the other, which initially presented the possibility of choice.

So at creation, and ever since, man was obliged to live with a set of realities seemingly seperate from God; thereby making him a creature of free will.

Conversely, man can only actualize his purpose in this world - knowing the Creator, recognizing His exaltedness and benefitting from His Good - by seeing to the perfection of the world around him and working to return "after creation" to the way God planned it. (Likutey Halakhot)
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That man is successful who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much; who has gained the respect of the intelligent men and the love of children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who leaves the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to express it; who looked for the best in others and gave the best he had." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Answer 4

At any given moment you can only choose one thing and it is impossible after that point to change that moment. So when you say you are going to dance and that is free will, but that makes not dance not an option for the moment you danced. Can you prove that the action you take could have been any different than the action that happened. The only way to do that would be to go back to that moment. Since no one has traveled back in time, its safe to say no free will has been proved... yet.

Answer 5

When you figure out a good argument for either side, you let me know. This is a debate that will never meet it's end. But what does it matter? Do as the bible commands... Believe, have faith, witness to others... That's all we're called to do. Leave the rest to God.

The idea that there's no such thing as "free will" leads to apathy, which could very well be resulting in lost souls. It is definitely a difficult topic.

Answer 6

Does it make a difference, really?

If you know me well, you'll know that my favorite ice cream is mint chocolate. I'll always buy that over any other kind, when I have a choice.

Is my choice predetermined? You could certainly predict it in advance, and you'd be right. Be that as it may, I still get the ice cream that I want. How is that different from "free will"?

Basically, I think the distinction is a meaningless one. There is no practical difference, and debating the matter serves no purpose other than to give philosophers and theologians headaches.

Answer 7

If there is such a thing as free will, it has many dimensions. In what follows, I will sketch the freedom-conferring characteristics that have attracted most of the attention. The reader is warned, however, that while many philosophers emphasize a single such characteristic, perhaps in response to the views of their immediate audience, it is probable that most would recognize the significance of many of the other features discussed here.

sourse:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/freewill/

Answer 8

I can't tell. It is possible that everything I do is predetermined and I have no free will at all. The reason I don't believe that is because there is nothing to indicate it. It's an interesting theory, just like the whole the-universe-is-in-my-head-and-no-one-exists-but-me theory of solipsism, but there's still no reason to believe that either. I don't believe things unless there's at least something to suggest it.

Answer 9

Because God doesnt not exist, and I am free to do whatever I feel like. I can walk outside and tear the head off a small child if I wanted to. Sure, I will pay the societal consequences, but I can still do it if I want to. Fortunately, The Golden Rule prevents me...

If its not my free will, who's is it?

Answer 10

Because even with all the things I am likely to do due to my upbringing and genetics, I still have many choices. Should I have chocolate or vanilla icecream? What if I like them equally? How is my choice determined?