Do you believe you have free will?

Question

Do you believe truly that you yourself has true free will? If so explain why you believe that.

Answer 1

Every human being has free will that discriminates us from most animals. It is not that free will is not available to animals... it is simply they do not exercise it. Only as a human being does one exercise free will. And what does this mean? Free will is indicative of the independence of every single individual on Mother Earth. The will power of a human being stems from the fact that we have a soul atman within.

No two souls' atmans in the Cosmos are connected to each other. Every single soul atman has an independent goal of life like the individual piece of a puzzle. Almost 95% people on Mother Earth do not exercise this free will. They become slaves of their destiny. Their indulgence in wanton desires and greed for materialistic riches do not permit them to exercise their free will.

Free will can only be exercised by one who travels the path of absolute truthfulness. This individual guided by the sweet small voice of our soul atman within ultimately manifests destiny. Traveling the path of free will... one finally transcends earthly life and gains enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and salvation (moksha).

At 11 years of age when I went in search of God... it was my free will... the voice of my soul atman within that became my guide in the journey of life. No human being can ever negate the presence of our soul atman within but one can subdue the voice of our soul atman by neglecting it for long. With passage of time... our ego finally dominates and suppresses our free will.

Travelers of spiritual path never allow their ego to dominate their free will... the voice of our soul atman coming from within our heart. When attempted care fully... we can very distinctly hear this voice that always guides us on the right path. It is following the path of free will... we find successful entrepreneurs like Bill Gates dominating the scene... in spite of the fact they were turned out of school as failure. More on free will voice of our soul atman - http://www.godrealized.com/define_atman.html

Answer 2

I believe we have Free Will and a little Destiny also. When we come into life we have set our selves up for so many tests that we must complete.We have the Free Will to do whatever we want as long as our tests are complete. We might choose the wrong path at times but,nonetheless we still learn our lesson. But we can make life so much easier just by acknowledging the fact that were in control. We create our own destiny! Everything we our is a summation of our past thoughts. Free Will is so powerful that if think yourself ill- you will be. If you think yourself healthy you will be. So be careful of what you think. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it and more.

Answer 3

Yes, I believe I have free will in every minute and every moment of my life. When I wake up I choose to put on slippers, brush my teeth and go in the shower etc etc etc. When I take a day to realize each moment of my life I can see the moment I am stopping to make a decision. I know it is challenging to make decisions that are different then the ones I am use to but if I want to live a full life I must see my part in this life before the next life greets me.

I am very much concerned about the society that I am a part of which is beyond my control and is beginning to have the feel of a dictatorship rather than a free society.

Answer 4

Free will encounters problems when you talk about genes and environment and so on. Could it be that every decision you make is predetermined by genes and your upbringing? How can that be called free will?

We have the ability to choose for ourselves, but we ourselves are not necessarily free. It is an odd state in which to be. However, I firmly believe that self-reflection - self-questioning - goes beyond what our genes and environment have given us if we really try hard. If we trace everything we do and think and believe in back to its source, we can finally determine if it's really worth keeping. I've done this with my life and I'm completely different now, having thrown everything away and begun again so that I can choose for MYSELF what I want.

Unfortunately, some people are born with mental defects that would prevent them from this level of thinking or even from making decisions that a healthy person would desire. However, they will still do things if they "choose" to do them, so free will still exists.

The only danger might be if there's a divine creator who is actually forcing us this way or that, but even then, we can make decisions that we are perfectly fine with, so free will is not necessarily lost. We can't know or do a thing about it anyway.

Answer 5

Under the doctrine of absolute pre-determination, society cannot hold us responsible if we decide to get drunk and our actions result in an automobile accident. Such incidents would have been part of a chain of causality that originated with the beginning of the universe. If we have no Free Will, there can be no responsibility and no punishments. Society could not exist.

The speculation that we have no free will defies common sense and our everyday experience of life. With the intervention of free will, our future, and thus the future of the universe, will follow a path different from the path it would have pursued without our intervention.

In addition to scientific considerations, common sense insists that Free Will exists. Who would deny that we have Free Will when we put one foot in front of the other and decide, of our own volition, of our own Free Will, to go for a walk or not go for a walk this afternoon? It is clearly irrational to believe that a chain of causality (pre-determination) at the time of the Big Bang determines if we go for a walk this afternoon, or not.

Answer 6

I believe that free will is something that all of us truly have, but this can only be realized, when one throws off the mental shackles of thinking in terms of "right" and "wrong" and instead thinks about things in terms of what actions would yield the best personal outcome, then one realizes this and therefore, discovers his/her truly free will.

Answer 7

I have finite free will. There are a range of choices which I may make from moment to moment.

I am constrained by the physical impossibility of some choices (I will flap my arms and fly)

the economic difficulty of others (Instead of going to work tomorrow, I will go to the local Mercedes-Benz dealer and "sign-n-drive" a lease on the top of the line, and drive it across country on my credit card)

and other forms of basic common sense (I will stop either at McDonald's or Burger King for my breakfast sandwich and coffee on my way to work).

Answer 8

I don't like thinking that everything is decided before I even know what's coming. But then thinking that everything is just randomness I create without any kind of structure or purpose at the end isn't too appealing either.
So I like to believe that we're on this path that leads us through life that comes to a little crossroads every little ways where we may make the choice to altar our course. It's just what I like to think.

Answer 9

It seems to me free will is a nonsensical idea to start with. There seem to be only two contexts for it. One is the context of deterministic physical laws, but in that case our behavior, which is the result of brain activity, is determined by deterministic physical processes within the brain. In that case, there's no freedom there.

Likewise, if we decide that our actions are determined in that exceptional area of subatomic particles where randomness holds sway, then my actions are determined by random events. I see no will there.

The real problem is that no one really has enunciated a concept of free will that isn't pure fantasyland to start with.

We FEEL free. If that's free will, then we are both free and fools.

The only way out is to go with religion and ignore science. Me...I'm sticking with science.

Answer 10

Some are freer than others. We're raised with our parents
beliefs, shaped by education and society's edicts, but a
person who questions all that he has been taught and goes
on his own path for knowledge, attains an enhanced version
of free will. I have always believed that I've chosen my own
path based on travelling down many and that I've exerted
my free will to do so.

Answer 11

yes i believe i have true free will... this is because only i make the final decision to every choices that comes my way... i may have people give advice over something (solicited or not) but at the end of the day, it is I who decides what to take... and i may have my conscience to dictate what could be right or wrong, what could be good or bad for myself, the society, and everyone around, but still in the end, i am the one who faces the decision as to which part to go... it is me who decides whether i could take or not the consequences of my action... but above all... for every decision i make to every action and thought, it is I who had made the final decision... no outside forces, just me as to what i believe could give me the best end result...