Do We Really Have Free Will?

Question

Thanx for your answers ...have a nice day/ night :)

Answer 1

The power of discrimination that distinguishes us from animals... our soul atman within... is the free will every human being exercises in this mortal world! It is the power of free will that really makes human being reach the level of Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammed... a man God!

Exercising free will human beings finally gain enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and salvation (moksha). The power of discrimination is the biggest asset of mankind gifted to human beings by God Almighty. Devoid of the power of discrimination human beings would behave nothing more than animals. And how does this free will enact!

From the moment we are born human beings exercise the power of free will. In the spiritual pursuit mounted with the power of this free will human beings finally cut across the ocean of Samsara (worldly life)! No spiritual seeker on the path of spirituality would ever reach the goal of ones life in absence of the free will!

Our free will... the power of our soul atman within enacts itself through the voice of our soul atman that seems to come from within our heart. Travelers on the path of absolute truthfulness can hear the voice of our soul atman distinctly. The sweet small inner voice of our soul atman that seems to come from within our heart always guides us on the right path.

Guided by the sweet small inner voice of our soul atman within... I finally realized God in 1993. When 13 years of age I had a conviction to go in search for God come whatever may! No one to guide... I made God Almighty my spiritual guide in the journey of life! 25 years of yoga and meditation... I finally reached the Mount Everest of spiritual pursuit!

There is one more respect to free will. We are born not by choice but based on the residual balance of karma of the previous manifestations. Having taken birth... we can manipulate our destiny to our liking! It all becomes possible with the presence of the free will within us. In the present earthly domain we are absolutely free to pursue the path of our choice!

Parents, teachers, relatives and friends always act as guides in the journey of life... our true supporter and guide always being the sweet small inner voice of our soul atman within... our free will! Only those who let their ego suppress the sweet small inner voice of our soul atman within do not hear the voice distinctly. They finally get lost in this mortal world!

Those with a sunny disposition and godly thinking always pursue the dictates of our soul atman within. Those bogged down by wanton desires and materialistic riches lead a negative life... full of vices and unethical practices! If we need to cut across the rut of routine life... it is the power of free will that makes it possible! We are not slaves but born masters of our destiny in life! More on Inner Self - http://www.godrealized.org/truce_with_my_inner_self.html

Answer 2

I would say that no, we as humans do not truly have free will.

Everything we do is influenced by the subconscious mind, our ideals and memories, even if we need not think about the action in question. This is a reflex, as much as any other: a survival mechanism, if you like. If we had free will, in the simplest and truest sense of the phrase, we could stop our hearts any time we wished.

Perhaps the only time we truly have free will is in the time shortly after birth; the problem is that we lack the skills or knowledge to act on our choices, or even to make more than the smallest decisions.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, from an evolutionary view), far too many people lack the wisdom to choose well throughout their lives.

Answer 3

We have 100% free will. Using the government, laws, taxes, family, et al, still does not deprive us of our free will to do what ever we want, good or bad, and if we are willing to face the consequences.

You don't have to pay your taxes if you do not want to., Of course, then you must face the consequences.

You can jump off a 24 storey building, but will have to face the consequences,.

You can marry the girl of your dreams even if your parents totally disapprove of her.

You can be a multimillionaire and give all your money away.

You can decide to be a garbage collector instead of the lawyer your wife wants you to be.

Of course, these examples take you to the nth degree, but you can do them. Again, the consequences are always there.

So, when God talks of freewill, I guess He means you may do what you want, It may be good, it maybe bad. But the choices are there. And so are the consequences. I am not trying to say you should do the actions I used as an example. I am just saying you have a choice and the choice is called freewill. We are not slaves to people, governments, etc., but to our conscious. Sounds crazy I know, but in theory we have that tremendous gift of free will. I hope you understand what I am trying to say. Just make sure you pay your taxes because I don't want you to go to jail.

I guess this a sort of philosophical argument about free will.

Good night, Mrs. Kalabash, where ever you are.

Answer 4

We have the power to influence many outcomes in our lives through a habit of making "good" choices, meaning choices that are calculated to have positive outcomes, and, like practicing a musical instrument, the more we attempt it the better we get at it.

If "free will" means acting as impulse moves us, or doing or getting anything we have a craving for, this undisciplined, unfocused lifestyle when lived makes focused, goal-oriented action impossible, eliminating rationally self-chosen outcomes at the outset.

This doesn't mean that you always have to keep your nose to the goal-orientation grindstone, or that there is no room for ever following impulses! Impulsive behavior can be very recreational, and, within bounds, is a necessary or at least a highly-desirable part of freedom.

A relative of mine, who normally is not all that spontaneous, and who has achieved all of his life goals by being highly organized, has gained the wisdom to follow impulse sometimes. He said that when he was young and poor he had little free time, so he planned every moment of his vacations, carefully computing in advance how to get the most from his money. But now, when he takes a vacation from work, he sometimes likes to get in the car without planning a destination, and greatly enjoys selecting the route on impulse as he goes along.

Sometimes he decides the turns and his wife goes along, enjoying the unplanned ride, and sometimes his wife picks the route and he goes along for the ride!

This causes these two very methodical planner types to laugh a lot, to make a lot of hilariously mis-chosen routes. They have tremendous fun on their self-chosen vacations from their methodical lives, and they can now afford now not to plan every minute and count every penny. But they would never have achieved that financial capability if he had not carefully managed his career climb and normally maintained the habit of thinking and planning what they are going to do.

Freedom is being conscious of your power as the person behind the wheel to plan your big outcomes, but to sweat the small stuff is to live under the self-imposed tyranny of an overly-rigid schedule. Whatever our definition of free will, we do not FEEL free if we undeviatingly and methodically do everything according to the numbers, never taking a risk, never leaving anything to chance or impulse!

Yes, you have the freedom to control your outcomes to a great extent, or at least a big vote in how things come out. If you don't believe it, spend one hour insulting and frowning at everyone you meet, and the next hour being pleasant and friendly. The outcomes are predictable, in accordance with the behaviors chosen, and even the most hidebound skeptic of free will is going to tell you that, in this case, if an obnoxious slob gets a chill reception or gets punched in the nose, it is his/her own fault-- thereby admitting that free will exists!

So, "Do we really have free will?" You know it!.

Answer 5

Actually, we do have free will because you never have to listen to anyone. If someone tells you to do something it is up to you what you want to do. Even in the matter of authority figures. They can command you to go somewhere such as the principal's office and you can refuse or try to get away if you like. But you'll probably end up getting in trouble. Even so, there is always a choice for you to make.

Answer 6

Yes, but only within the parameters of our physical nature, our intelligence and comprehension, our assumptions and pre-conceptions, and the limitations of our time, place, and society. That is surely enough. Most people do not exercise even the choice they could within those parameters! The first choice available is to expand them. How many do? Most will settle for the dogma of "received wisdom", or the direction of High Priests of one kind or another.

Answer 7

Yes. Anybody can do whatever they want to, but the thing to remember, is that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. It is very simple, you do good to others, people will like you and they will do good to you. You go out and kill somebody, you will pay the consequences for that crime, either in this life or the next.

A man that hath friends must show himself friendly...

...whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Yes, we do have free will to do whatever, but we will also bear the consequences of our actions, whether they be good or bad.

Answer 8

It APPEARS that we have choice, and FEELS like we do. And yet, in 20/20 hindsight, all my choices were inevitable given who I was and what I knew at the time. The flip of a coin seems random, yet that is only a measure of my ignorance: if I could control my thumb well enough, I could choose to flip heads or tails at will. Thus I think that 'choice' is an illusion as who we are and what we know unfolds (in our awareness) in successive moments of Now.

Answer 9

Yes, we do have free will. I can decide whether or not to stay home from worship each Sunday. I can choose whether or not to send my friends and relatives cards for their birthdays. I can choose to smile rather than frown. I can choose to vote or not to vote. I could give you lots more, but I'm sure you get the picture. Grams

Answer 10

Well, you told us all to have a nice day. I bet you wouldn't have done that if you didn't think about it before hand, therefore, because you thought about it and decided to do it, then you have the free will to do it, which you used to enact the previously stated decision.

Answer 11

if we were to have free will then how does God know everything before it happens? how has he written our life accordingly? how can we possibly have free will if God chose our life for us? if in the understanding that God has predistined each one of us for a particular life, then, no we do not have free will. and even if he has predistined our lives to perform only one single duty in one moment of our painful lives ... then every choice we've made has brought us to that very moment. which mathmatically a million different choices could've been made, but in the end the sum equals the same. therfore if we have free will to choose there are only a certain amount of choices to be made which common sense tells me if those choices lead to one main event ... then i do not have free will.

free will is having one future - to die.
if under God - none of us have free will. just as he made us, he made our walk in life.

and as much as i do not like that apparent truth ... i must accept it.