Director Roger Nygard traveled the world asking theologians, scientists, skeptics, and everyday people 85 tough questions to try to understand The Nature of Existence! Now that he’s asked the experts, it’s YOUR TURN! To offer your own insights on today’s question, “Do we have free will?“, Leave a Reply below!
Yes we do. I submitted my comment didn’t I?
Perhaps one of the most interesting questions of our time. We keep finding more about how the brain works, what affects our decisions, how we can alter behavior. I know an out of body experience can be induced, I would pay to have it done if it was offered. Nevertheless, we still have the sense that we have free will, and we still need to treat people like they are capable of making decisions for themselves. Saying that our actions are determined by chemicals or energy or whatever does not release us from being responsible.
When we understand ourselves and how the brain and body works, we can make educated and responsible decisions, thus giving ourselves “free will”. It is not something that can be given to us from someone or something else. It takes work. Until then, you’re nothing but a sheep in the flock, going and doing where and what you’re told.
I believe that we do have free will, and that it only is relevant to choices between right and wrong. But if we assume that our actions are determined by chemical reactions, as you suggest John, who will be responsible for our actions? The chemicals? Who are we at all?
Great page. Thnx! Cheers dirty hobby
We always have free will. What we don’t always have is the unrestricted ability to have any effective power over what the electro-chemical brain apparatus from which emerges our consciousness tells us is real.
Listened to some lectures lately that suggest we don’t in fact have free will, and the implications for the legal system ect.
A worthy subject of study. Let the data fall where it may, and we’ll adapt as with every other major scientific discovery.
If free means completely independent of any influence outside the decision maker we have to know who/what is making the decision and this is the first problem. Secondly IF there is anything independent of the physiological makeup of an individual- which I am not inclined to believe although i can never be certain – it is mostly subconscious because a decision is made nanoseconds before we are conscious of it. Also, the factors that influence the decision are generally beyond any conscious control on he nanoscale – genetics, chemicals, experience,etc etc. The individual’s peception that he is making a rational autonomous decision is an illusion. Unfortunately this reality is impractical because it means we are not really responsible as autonomous beings for our actions, and although we allow this for extreme behaviiours that can be explained by extreme mental illness etc. our societies have to have some commonly accepted standards of behaviour and accepted responsibility for actions regardless of actual culpability or they could not function.
We either have free will or everything is pre-determined. I have difficulty believing that there is only one way that things can happen (though that is one possibility). Free will gives rise to more possibilites (therefore more plausible to me). Free will also takes into account action and inaction as possibilities. In a pre-determined universe everything proceeds as it is “planned” therefore our actions or inactions will be as they were destined to be – meaning we have absolutely no control. I like to think we can control our choices, we just can’t control the outcome.
I think we neither have complete free will nor complete predetermination. We can choose what we do within our own specific circumstances.
Yes. Anyone who attempts to answer such a question must inherently use their free will to answer it. Otherwise what’s the use of asking such a question? You would be required to have a prechosen answer, and that’s not the case.
to an extent. but is there a deterministic future, fate, or something like that. no, of course not. but humans are so boring it wouldn’t change much anyway.