Does free will exist?

[Badong]

The universe is inherently deterministic, but since we cannot predict events because of the metric shit tonne of unknown factors and variables, we can say that we do have a sense of free will.

 

[spartan231490]

Of course there is free will. The mere suggestion that there isn't is laughable to me. Just because you decide to eat because you are hungry, doesn't mean that it wasn't a decision.

I've always looked to the available option of apathy, inaction and eventual slow death as absolute proof of the existence of free will. After all

we can choose not to eat, for a time, but eventually have to if we want to survive.

^that right there is a choice, no matter how hard anyone wants to believe it isn't^

Exactly.

 

[Jegsimmons]

A thought struck me while reading the replies on the thread about what makes us human. A few mentioned free will. But lately I've been wondering if that really exists.

Considering biology, society, language and history affect all of us, do we really have free will as such, or are we governed by everything around us? After all, we can choose not to eat, for a time, but eventually have to if we want to survive. And then it's our body that decides if we want something spicy, sweet etc.

What's your take on this? Do we have free will at all or just the illusion of choice?

(Yes, I realise this thread's been done before, but not for quite some time. This thread again, but with new opinions, hopefully.)

oh everyone has free will, but we are also subject to consequences afterwards.

 

[SeanSeanston]

You have to define exactly what is meant by free will first.

1. What do you mean by will?
2. What does it mean for the defined will to be free?

Then we can start to propose answers, but free will could mean any number of things to any number of people.

 

[Fleaman]

All biology is predicated on the physical properties of its components; of course all brain activity is described by physics. The rule is that if your math isn't describing what you're observing, your model isn't accurate enough. (I don't understand Quantum Mechanics well enough to know why this supposedly isn't true for particles, but I don't know that it's relevant to predicting human behavior.)

There's no need for mysticism concerning the mind, this "free will is ineffable to science, woooooo" attitude. You can choose to buck your biological needs and starve to death, but this idea didn't come from nothing and it doesn't go nowhere: The act attempts to assert your authority over yourself. It satisfies an emotional need. Looked at this way, a lot of "spontaneous" human behavior becomes trivially easy to understand.

Does this mean you don't have free will? In fact, it can. If we say that free will is the ability to make decisions using your consciousness, then the fact that your conscious mind is built on a foundation set by chemicals means that your choice can be influenced by your physical state. For example, by addiction.

This said, fatalism does not logically follow determinism, the fact that your decisions can be predicted scientifically does not devalue them, and in any case spontaneity is a seriously shitty criterion for humanness.

 

[idodo35]

i choose to answer that it doesnt! (see i just blew your mind... or not )

 

[remnant_phoenix]

Considering biology, society, language and history affect all of us, do we really have free will as such, or are we governed by everything around us? After all, we can choose not to eat, for a time, but eventually have to if we want to survive. And then it's our body that decides if we want something spicy, sweet etc.

The question is fundamentally flawed. You ask "Does free will exist?" which frames a simple "yes or no" scenario, when the truth is more complex than that (which is usually the case).

I would argue that yes, free will exists, but, at the same time, our will is not always 100% free.

Sometimes our genetic and physiological components compel us to behave a certain way. While we can act against our compulsions (confirming free will), sometimes a compulsion can be so strong that we completely surrender our free will to it. In some extreme instances, such as nuerological disorders, it can be practically impossible to ignore a physiological compulsion. Example: acute paranoid schizophrenia. (Ever heard of "A Beautiful Mind"?)

Sometimes our psychological/social conditioning compels us to behave a certain way. Again, we can resist, but sometimes psychological/social conditioning can be too great to reasonably ignore. Example: brainwashing. (Ever heard of "A Clockwork Orange"?)

I believe that we have free will, but our free will can be limited and often is limited by many factors; the free will that a person actually excercises varies from person to person and is based on many factors.

 

[TheLoneBeet]

Yes but in my opinion we're bound by society's concept of normalcy. We can still do whatever we want but our responsibilities in life tie us down. We're also bound by conscience. For instance, I have the free will to skip work tonight and go to a movie, but I know that's a bad idea because I'll get written up or fired. I have the free will to walk downtown and start shooting people, but I know it's a TERRIBLE idea and I'll be arrested or just shot down by the police. Etc. Etc.

Free Will < Conscience, Responsibility, Intelligence

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

A thought struck me while reading the replies on the thread about what makes us human. A few mentioned free will. But lately I've been wondering if that really exists.

Considering biology, society, language and history affect all of us, do we really have free will as such, or are we governed by everything around us? After all, we can choose not to eat, for a time, but eventually have to if we want to survive. And then it's our body that decides if we want something spicy, sweet etc.

What's your take on this? Do we have free will at all or just the illusion of choice?

(Yes, I realise this thread's been done before, but not for quite some time. This thread again, but with new opinions, hopefully.)

Of course free will exists. The fact that we can ask that and question it is the greatest evidence that it is the case.

After all, you CAN starve yourself to death. You CAN choose to not eat. You'll be really hungry, but you can choose to not eat until you die. Monks have done so. It's not the best example, perhaps, but it does address your question above.

Are we influenced by everything around us? Of course. But, while that does affect our psyche, we can still choose to go against those urges. We can choose which urges to embrace, and how we embrace them.

Determinalism, nothing "magic" happens in the universe, only physics. 100% prediactable physics. So i can predict the motion, reaction and moves of your brain cells and predict every one of your actions. Google it.

You can "choose" to starve to death. But the atom that hits the receptor that sends the pulse to reject all food was set in motion a billion billion years ago when the big bang happened.

Honestly unless you are a fundamental christian and believe all science is lies i dont understand how you can believe in free will. How does "random" happen in your brain? DId that electrical charge in yoru brain just HAPPEN? Did you just create energy? Well done, all thermodynamics is a lie! Unless you render all physics moot, you cannot just change the way an atom bounces in your brain by magic, you cant create electricity from nothing in your mind to "choose" something.

Actually:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will#Physics
Scientists are split.

 

[OriginalLadders]

It doesn't make a difference either way since most people operate under the assumtpion that they have free will.

If we do have free will, then we'll just keep doing whatever we want to do.

If we don't have free will, then we'll just keep doing what we've always done.

 

[AdamRBi]

Yes, there is. It may be Free Will driven by survivalist instincts and natural tendencies, but that doesn't mean it's not free.

The universe is a chaotic force of random happenstance, nothing is predestined to happen, we control what we do though not always how we do it.

 

[Hitokiri_Gensai]

Only the illusion of control exists, you really only play to a higher beings whims and fancy on a day to day basis!



i like to think so, but im not sure, religion makes my head hurt, so i dont bother trying to figure it out.

 

[acturisme]

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle implies that the world is not nearly as deterministic as Newton and Einstein had thought. Determinism isn't dead but is hasn't as much evidence in its favor as Probability. Free will is wining the argument in physics circles. As far as philosophy goes... this could go on forever.

No it does not. Probability merely supports a chance that different things can happen which would only disprove predestination; and only if multiverse theory is wrong. Even if we aren't predestined, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle merely would possibly provide evidence that predestination is wrong, it says nothing at all about free will. Or do you personally have the power to control the 'random' outcomes described in Heisenburg's principle? Because I can assure you, no one else has such an ability(which I believe means that you're god)

So if I can move a single electron in the direction i choose that makes me God. BTW you should capitalize God unless you aren't talking about any specific god.

 

[acturisme]

from the point of view of a very mortal human being who does no know what will happen 1 second into the future with 100% certainty then yes free will exists for me.

I like that thought.

 

[UltraBlumpkin]

I predetermined you would read this post.

 

[JediMB]

Depends entirely of your definition of free will, I would say.

By most practical definitions, though? Yes, we do have free will.

 

[Sum1else]

Do we have free will at all or just the illusion of choice?

Here is the question, made fully unambiguous, a discussion of what constitutes a satisfactory answer, and then a link to the actual answer (if any of you are incapable of solving it yourself), but the problem really isn't that hard when you think about it properly.

http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Free_will

 

[OniYouji]

Did you not think of the question and decide to post it? That seems like conclusive proof that it exists.