We don't chose our genetic makeup, our parents/family, our starting socieconomic status, or the kind of society we are born into. With all of these very important factors being totally out of our control, how much freedom is really left for us to have? Even our personalities and decision making processes are the results of the aformentioned factors and social conditioning. It seems to me that we only percieve that we have free will because we don't have the time or brain power to really understand how all the deterministic factors interact. Free will is our mental shortcut.
But I know there are many many people who do believe in free will, that the ultimate decision of who we are and what we do lies solely within us. So I ask them, how can you reconcile the concept of free will with the very important life factors that are out of our control?
2007-09-21 13:17:21 · 12 answers · asked by Subconsciousless 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
with all the millions of people in the world & those that have lived before & after you, at the time of your judgement there will be a saint standing beside the LORD who had the same life circumstances that you had ... & chose to do rightly ... chose to follow the LORD... chose to partake of the new birth as described in acts 2:38 by peter & john 3 by Jesus ... & who chose to live holy unto the LORD.
not everyone who is saved & now lives for God had a perfect childhood or had great knowledge.
you won't be able to claim ignorance ... ignorance is NOT bliss.
they did, however, have a hunger for the truth of salvation & an undying & unrelenting love for God.
God is merciful & more than fair.
He died for us all & created a way for us to be greatly rewarded for eternity.
what person in their right mind wouldn't want that??
2007-09-21 13:34:40 · answer #1 · answered by t d 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"It seems to me that we only perceive that we have free will because we don't have the time or brain power to really understand how all the deterministic factors interact. Free will is our mental shortcut."
Well said, and I couldn't agree more.
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principal doesn't in fact say that the universe is actually indeterministic, simply that we lack the ABILITY to measure it without affecting it.
To us, for all intents and purposes it *seems* like we have free will, but in fact every action we can or will ever take may already be determined from the beginning of the universe.
2007-09-21 20:25:58 · answer #2 · answered by Dark-River 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
did you decide what you wanted to eat today? you did? really? how can that be so, when you had no voice in deciding what species of plants and animals would be on this planet, and the body's nutritional requirements were developed without your input?
brother, free will does not mean that the world is set up to your specifications...free will means that you decide what to do about the hand you're dealt...not everyone is dealt the same hand...that's called 'life', get over it, and get on with your life-you might just find you're much happier
i've seen this question posed many times in different ways, and it always seemed to me to be an extension of that old teen refrain, "i didn't ask to be born"-i said it myself a few times-to which my mother would always reply, 'i didn't ask for a kid that whined as much as you do, but i love you anyway, and i'm coping, so get over it, kid"
2007-09-21 21:02:44 · answer #3 · answered by spike missing debra m 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
After looking at the concept carefully, I thin free will doesn't exist - specifically for the reasons you mentioned. We are pre-programmed by our society, by our elders and by our peers to behave in a certain way.
You do the best you can in choosing the life you want to lead but those choices are influenced by the forces around you.
2007-09-21 20:30:28 · answer #4 · answered by umwut? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You didn't chose to ask this question?
The idea of Free Will changes with each person asked about it. Some take it to extremes, when the basic meaning of it is when presented with different roads to take, you do get to chose which one you will take. It is not about chosing Everything about you or your birth or your situation, but it's about chosing between different options that you are aware of....
*Chosing not to chose is still a choice*
2007-09-21 20:57:01 · answer #5 · answered by River 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I grew up twenty blocks away from General Colin Powel in the Bronx.
His father was born in Jamaica.
Good luck.
2007-09-21 20:27:15 · answer #6 · answered by Thomas Paine 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If God in his goodness gave us free will then in his justice he had to give us what we need to make the right choice, and in his love he did.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
2007-09-21 20:26:08 · answer #7 · answered by hisgloryisgreat 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Free will is the choice to believe in God or not to believe.
2007-09-21 20:38:56 · answer #8 · answered by elaine 30705 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you have a free will when it comes to choosing to serve God or not ,God is a gentleman and wont push hisself on you but He waits close by so when you call on Him he will be there for you.
2007-09-21 20:36:01 · answer #9 · answered by cheryl v 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Free will is a joke, God told Pharaoh he was raised up to accomplish His plan...
2007-09-21 20:25:19 · answer #10 · answered by Madmax 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋