Do we ever have free will? How do you know?

Question

Is everything destiny and maybe you think you have free will and will do the opposite of what you think you are supposed to do but maybe it has been pre-planned that is what you will do. Just a thought....

Answer 1

Yes, absolutely . You have a choice how to lead your life ! No one force you to take drugs , they may tempt you , ultimately , it is your own choice to go with the wrong friends. Each choice you make will creat a different fate . Eventually you are who you are through your own actions . The buddha was born a prince , but he has given all that up through his own choice .

Answer 2

from link:
Destiny refers to a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. It is a concept based on the belief that there is a fixed natural order to the universe...
Different concepts of destiny and fate
Destiny may be envisaged as fore-ordained by the Divine (for example, the Protestant concept of predestination) or by human will (for example, the American concept of Manifest Destiny).

A sense of destiny in its oldest human sense is in the soldier's fatalistic image of the "bullet that has your name on it" or the moment when your number "comes up," or a romance that was "meant to be." The human sense that there must be a hidden purpose in the random lottery governs the selection of Theseus to be among the youths to be sacrificed to the Minotaur. Many Greek legends and tales teach the futility of trying to outmaneuver an inexorable fate that has been correctly predicted.

Destiny may be seen as a fixed sequence of events that is inevitable and unchangeable, or that individuals choose their own destiny by choosing different paths throughout their life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destiny

Had to Google for clarification of "Destiny".
From the above it seems as though the concept of "Destiny" is a control mechanism.
Or...
self proclaimed "seal of approval" from creator of the universe to do bad things.

"Shut up and charge"
in the case of soldier.

"put on your lip rouge and lip pretty for the Minotaur"
in the case of selection of sacrifices.

and

God pre ordains that we kill. oppress, and steal anothers peoples land.
He don't like them anyway cause the are heathens....
in the case of Manifest Destiny and other numerous instances of Biblically inspired/justified "rumble thee forths"
I Suppose the Torah, Koran, and other religious texts provide some "wiggle room" in interpretation....
to do bad things.

Frank Zappa
Dumb all over
(Zappa)
From the album You are what you is, 1981,

Whoever we are
Wherever we're from
We shoulda noticed by now
Our behavior is dumb
And if our chances
Expect to improve
It's gonna take a lot more
Than tryin' to remove
The other race
Or the other whatever
From the face
Of the planet altogether

They call it THE EARTH
Which is a dumb kinda name
But they named it right
'Cause we behave the same...
*We are dumb all over*
Dumb all over,
Yes we are
Dumb all over,
Near 'n far
Dumb all over,
Black 'n white
People, we is not wrapped tight
Nurds on the left
Nurds on the right
Religous fanatics
On the air every night
Sayin' the Bible
Tells the story
Makes the details
Sound real gory
'Bout what to do
If the geeks over there
Don't believe in the book
We got over here

You can't run a race
Without no feet
'N pretty soon
There won't be no street
For dummies to jog on
Or doggies to dog on
Religous fanatics
Can make it be all gone
(I mean it won't blow up
'N disappear
It'll just look ugly
For a thousand years...)

You can't run a country
By a book of religion
Not by a heap
Or a lump or a smidgeon
Of foolish rules
Of ancient date
Designed to make
You all feel great
While you fold, spindle
And mutilate
Those unbelievers
From a neighboring state


TO ARMS! TO ARMS!
Hooray! That's great
Two legs ain't bad
Unless there's a crate
They ship the parts
To mama in
For souvenirs: two ears *(Get Down!)*
Not his, not hers, *(but what the hey?)*
The Good Book says:
*("It gotta be that way!")*
But their book says:
*"REVENGE THE CRUSADES...
With whips 'n chains
'N hand grenades..."*
TWO ARMS? TWO ARMS?
Have another and another
Our God says:
*"There ain't no other!"*
Our God says
*"It's all okay!"*
Our God says
*"This is the way!"*

It says in the book:
*"Burn 'n destroy...*
*'N repent, 'n redeem*
*'N revenge, 'n deploy*
*'N rumble thee forth*
*To the land of the unbelieving scum on
the other side*
*'Cause they don't go for what's in the
book*
*'N that makes 'em BAD*
*So verily we must choppeth them up*
*And stompeth them down*
*Or rent a nice French bomb*
*To poof them out of existance
*While leaving their real estate just where
we need it*
*To use again*
*For temples in which to praise
OUR GOD*
*("Cause he can really take care of
business!")*

And when his humble TV servant
With humble white hair
And humble glasses
And a nice brown suit
And maybe a blond wife who takes
phone calls
Tells us our God says
It's okay to do this stuff
Then we gotta do it,
'Cause if we don't do it,
We ain't gwine up to *hebbin!*
(Depending on which book you're using
at the time...Can't use theirs... it don't work
...it's all lies...Gotta use mine...)
Ain't that right?
That's what they say
Every night...
Every day...
Hey, we can't really be dumb
If we're just following *God's Orders*
Hey, let's get serious...
God knows what he's doin'
He wrote this book here
An' the book says:
*He made us all to be just like Him,"
so...
If we're dumb...
Then God is dumb...
*(An' maybe even a little ugly on the side)*

Answer 3

There is a feeling of being free. It is that which matters. In absolute terms no one is unshackled from the laws of life.

Answer 4

maybe we do, maybe we don't...

the truth is that we won't know until we die (if at all)

why spend time and energy trying to answer those questions which have no answer?

the only to find out before death is to smoke DMT or drink an ayahuasca brew

Answer 5

"It is the coward and the fool who says this is his fate. But it is the strong man who stands up and says I will make my own fate"

Answer 6

Nothing is free not even freedom

Answer 7

You can doubt, but can you doubt that you doubt ?

Answer 8

i strongly doubt it.