free will or no?

Question

im agnostic yet.. if god had a plan for each and everyone of us - where's the free will? i dunno

isn't everything u do influenced by others?
even..

say someone say's 'let's do drugs'? u say 'no'. your choice is influenced by other people to 'NOT' go along with the person. no?

Answer 1

Free will is an illusion. Everything about an individual is of the past and that past stretches back to the first instant of creation. From that point on we became subject totally to forces that were put in motion. They shape our minds,our wills, and our body. When we make a supposed choice, we always select the only one that we would have, simply because we are built that way. To do otherwise would be to ask an ostrich to fly. Although it is a bird there is no way it can fly on it own because it is just not built that way. In the same vein, we make the choices we make because we could make no other "choice". No more than ostrich could fly.

Answer 2

The free will is in the choices you make. It's not so much that others influence you, more that your choices impact on someone else. In other words, there is a consequence for every choice you make.

Using your example of drugs - someone can say to you "let's do drugs", but short of physically forcing them into your system, they can't force you. If you say no, you have made a choice. As for influence by other people to say no, you still have the choice to do drugs or not do drugs. The difference in that situation is that through other people, you have been given knowledge to make an informed choice. By informed, I mean that you have been given knowledge of what will happen to you if you abuse drugs and what will happen if you don't.

No human being alive can force you to make a choice one way or the other - even though it may feel that they have. At some point, you have made a series of choices that led you to where you are today at this moment. Even parents cannot force a choice, however they can impose consequences for your choices and educate you so that you have the necessary information to make choices that reap better consequences.

Even teachers can't force you to do homework or study. But they can impose consequences - i.e. failing grade when you don't, passing grade when you do.

Now, onto God's plan. Yes, He does have a plan and a purpose for each of us. And here is where free will comes in - we and we alone control the choices we make, just as we and we alone are accountable for the choices we make. And while our choices will impact on someone, how that person responds and reacts to that impact is ultimately their choice.

Answer 3

Hobbes would say you don't have free will, and his idea is interesting:
that it's like dominoes - if you push one, it's not like the rest have a choice of falling or not. BUT, I do not neccesarily believe in his view at alll.

I really think you do have free will; you evaluate what people say and you may be influenced by the environment around you but how you react and what you DO really is your choice.

But that's an interesting question - however, if you think you don't have a choice in things, it's one of those bad excuses you use to do nothing and screw your life up. When you know you could have made choices to do what you believe.

I think you are influenecd by other people to make choices or not, only because if all your life nobody ever told you to do drugs, there would be no reason for you to NOT do it that you have heard of. But since you've lived life hearing the facts and people saying it's bad for you, or that you shouldn't do it etc., then you're obviously influenced to not want to do it for many reasons. And anyone can give in to peer pressure at any time, and just follow the crowd with the choice they make which is why you should always think about the choice you're making and figure if you're doing it for a good reason, or just because everyone else is doing it.

yup.

Answer 4

There is no such thing as fate except as an end result. If there was, and our life was predetermined, what would be the point in getting up in the morning. There are many people who think god does not have a plan for us. I am agnostic also yet a believe in a God. I believe he presents us with everyday situations and our lives are based on the choices we make from those situations.

Answer 5

There are two basic aspects to reality: absolute and relative.

Everything in manifest existence, everything that has been created in the universe, everything that you can perceive with your senses is part of the relative aspect of reality.

The Absolute is the source of everything that is. It is unmanifest. It is the Reality behind the whole of relative creation. You can't perceive it with your senses, because it is the source of your senses. It is the source of your own self.

I could be wrong, but I would say that fate is a quality that comes from the relative aspect of reality. And free will comes from the Absolute. So both are real.

Answer 6

God doesn't make you do anything. So many people are making a choice to die in their sins and not believe in Jesus. If that's what people want to do God doesn't stop them from making that choice. That's why there are so many liars and thieves and murderers in the earth. Everyone has a Free Will.

Answer 7

Our will is limited by the fact that our existence is finite and each of our decisions is positioned by competing interests and outcomes. One does not have to even postulate the existence of a God who has assigned a purpose for our lives to realize that whatever freedom we possess it is always qualified and limited. That humans have absolute freedom is one of the great conceits of modernity and represents the ascription to humanity of a quality of being that the ancients believed only properly belonged to God.

Answer 8

No free will. The idea doesn't even make sense. If your personality is pre-defined by some god or genes, you're still not choosing anything yourself. The only working definition of free will is that your choices are somewhat random so if you go back in time enough you might do something else, and it's pretty pointless to be happy about that if it's true.

Answer 9

You are right every one should have free will. I am not a true believer but wonder sometimes about how things work good year in year out. Like the 4 seasons that does not seem to be by chance?

Answer 10

It is a matter of interpretation, for it was said that MAN (WOMAN) had a choice of free will. To decide what they wanted in life and how to obtain it. GOD does not interfere because of that promise but GOD'S plan is for the entire population and creatures in the world. The mysterys of this life are not for us to ponder but to accept and use with our free choice . Spartawo...