Poll: Free will, does it exist?

[cookyt]

We are nothing but massive aquous chemical reactors and as such we are at the mercy (control) of what happens in them. Before the turn of the 20th century, there were physicist who claimed that they could predict the future for all of the universe for all time. All they needed was to know the exact location and velocity of all particles in the universe. In the 20th century we have the development of atomic theory leading to quantum mechanics. This is what dictates what will happen in the chemical reactions that occur in our body and since quantum mechanics is fundamentally based on statistics, then there will be probabilities associated with whether or not a reaction will occur. This in a simplistic way, there will be certain probabilities associated with the decisions that we make.

Yeah, exactly.

Whether or not free will exists is - in my humble opinion - moot point. Take a person - let's call him Max - and give him a choice between guessing two completely random choices: A and B. Regardless of what he chooses, his answer is already rapidly moving into the time-frame of yesteryear.

He may or may not have have had a legitimate choice between A and B once upon a time, but after it is made, the only point that line of reason serves him is to create a schema under which he is comfortable operating.

True. Whether or not it is moot, though, doesn't make it any less interesting in my mind.

It is an interesting question to say the least. The physics student in me screams to say that the universe is essentially deterministic, but not immutable. I like to believe that the cosmos are an intricate wristwatch on God's arm, and He is the watchmaker who creates and winds the clock to function precisely; however, until that vital moment when the next second has ticked its way into the records of time has passed, anything is possible.

Though, like I said, the idea is only a schema under which I am comfortable operating.

 

[G1eet]

Yes it does. If everything is predetermined, why? Who determined it? Why is it that way? Does someone already know what I'm going to have for breakfast tomorrow?

Yes. Colonel Sanders knows you're going to have fried chicken for breakfast tomorrow.

...You heard the Southern gentleman, chop chop.

 

[Venatio]

Free will exists, its at time suppressed by outside forces but we are not controlled by some omnipotent force thats for sure.

 

[Ultra_Caboose]

"Our futures are predestined. Mobius foretold mine eons ago. We each play out the parts fate has written for us. Free will... is an illusion."

 

[Just Pman]

Ever heard of will power?
People can fast, becuase they chose to fast. If we had no free will, we would eat.

 

[Calhoun347]

Perhaps, or Perhaps not. But to go living life thinking that all your actions are pre-determined is a real cop-out for saying "I'm not responsible for what i've done." By that logic, Hitler was A-okay, he didn't make those decisions, they were pre-determined and indeterminable amount of time ago.

It's also a rather depressing thought, Thinking you have no free will.

So basically, if you believe you have no free will you are pessimistic sort of person, who doesn't like to take responsibility for his actions. If you believe in free will you are likely an optimistic, (Or egotistical) person who takes responsibility for his actions.

Oh dear, i must not have free will because i just proved Godwin's law.

Oh, by the way, i do indeed believe i have free will, and that i determine all choices made by my person, whether i make them for selfish reasons, selfless reasons or accommodate to the wishes of others. There is no invisible hand guiding my actions.

From a physics standpoint Quantum mechanics predicts events with possibilities, so yeah.

 

[ninjaman 420]

No. Everything is set in stone and cannot be changed. All posts here made in support of or against the idea of free will are only being made because they have to be made. Those of you reading this post were predestined to do so.

what evidence do you have to support this? thats a mighty big claim

 

[Sad Robot]

Ever heard of will power?
People can fast, becuase they chose to fast. If we had no free will, we would eat.

As was alluded to in my original post, the fact that you experience of free will is not necessarily evidence of its existance as more than an illusion, in what could be called a physicalist, reductionist approach to the matter.

 

[ninjaman 420]

I'll just say this:

Of course free-will exists! if it didn't, America wouldn't have freedoms, democracy, and slavery would still exist in this country.

what "freedoms" does america have? doesnt everyone else in the world have those freedoms? are you referring to the bill of rights? the same rights that the government keeps taking away with things like the patriot act? if the government can take it away its not a right. that would make it a privledge.

 

[firedfns13]

Nope, life is a cascade of random events that you have very little ability to influence and control.

For instance, how many of you actually picked your friends? Particularly back in pre/elementary/middle school. And through High School?

The way I see it, you can't. You've never had the ability to instantly be friends with people; they will always percieve you as something you may or may not be and react accordingly. Likewise, you can not choose the day a drunk driver rams the side of your car, or the prices of things. You can't choose the women that are attracted to you, you can't make the one you worship love you.

 

[Calhoun347]

Nope, life is a cascade of random events that you have very little ability to influence and control.

For instance, how many of you actually picked your friends? Particularly back in pre/elementary/middle school. And through High School?

The way I see it, you can't. You've never had the ability to instantly be friends with people; they will always percieve you as something you may or may not be and react accordingly. Likewise, you can not choose the day a drunk driver rams the side of your car, or the prices of things. You can't choose the women that are attracted to you, you can't make the one you worship love you.

How does that Disprove free will? That only proves that we have little power over others. However, free will doesn't extend to control of other events, it only pertains to control of oneself. As in you are the source of your own thoughts, and actions.

 

[MasterChowmein]

Its all unclear to me (not the post), but free will in general

 

[randomsix]

Free will does exist. Otherwise I wouldn't have posted this.

Your argument is flawed. You posted this because you believe in free will due to certain events in your past, and posting that would uphold your beliefs.

Which is explained by this:
There is no free will. We only do that which we can given who we are and what our environment is, neither of which are chosen by us before they affect us. And that which we can do is that which we must do and therefor will do. There is no chance, there is no possibility of two different outcomes occurring because given the environment any action is performed in, the performer is given stimuli which lead to one action, and no other.

More simply, if you have a random number generator, and the first number it spits out is a 7, and you recreate an exact replica, which receives the EXACT same stimuli and input as the first (this includes EVERYTHING that could change the outcome, such as time between creation ad activation, the exact environment (including perfect replication of molecular surroundings), among many other things)...if these conditions are met, then the number generator has no option but to produce a 7 on it's first use.

Before you say that this will never happen, I know that. It is a thought experiment to prove that a single set of givens, such as those present in an environment and a person, must result in one action, and no other.

On the bright side, this might as well be free will, because there will probably never be a way to predict with 100% probability the result of any given situation, and since we don't know the future, it might as well be that our "choices" create it as we see fit.

It should just be remembered that we have no power over what we see as "fit."

 

[Sad Robot]

Perhaps, or Perhaps not. But to go living life thinking that all your actions are pre-determined is a real cop-out for saying "I'm not responsible for what i've done." By that logic, Hitler was A-okay, he didn't make those decisions, they were pre-determined and indeterminable amount of time ago.

It's also a rather depressing thought, Thinking you have no free will.

So basically, if you believe you have no free will you are pessimistic sort of person, who doesn't like to take responsibility for his actions. If you believe in free will you are likely an optimistic, (Or egotistical) person who takes responsibility for his actions.

Oh dear, i must not have free will because i just proved Godwin's law.

Oh, by the way, i do indeed believe i have free will, and that i determine all choices made by my person, whether i make them for selfish reasons, selfless reasons or accommodate to the wishes of others. There is no invisible hand guiding my actions.

If you've ever read any of my posts that deal with ethical issues, you'll have noticed that I'm not entirely pessimistic when it comes to humanity, rather cautiously hopeful, even what some people would call an idealist.

I don't believe this way of thinking necessarily leads to nihilism or the crumbling of ethical values. Whether it is in spite of or due to this way of thinking, I do feel one can very well be empathic, hopeful and responsible.

Life is a ride. We do experience free will; I feel we ought to aim to please ourselves and others, even if on an intellectual level we might realize that whether or not we do so is not entirely "up to us" in a philosophical sense.

That said, I have to admit, I am a depressed person myself. I am not sure whether that is evidence of anything, as I also know that many people who believe that technically there is no free will, are not depressed, but relatively cheery people.

EDIT: As for your Hitler point: I don't think whether or not Hitler was "in control" of what he did makes it any less horrible. Nor does it make the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake any less horrible or any number of events for that matter.

 

[Mad World]

As a Christian, I definitely believe in freewill.

 

[Tsuillo]

I think the hardest part of this question, is the point that regardless of if the universe is governed by a predestined mandate, or free will, our vantage on the present past and future is identical.

What's happened has happened, what's happening is happening, and out of all the possible futures, only one of them will happen.

So if the choices we make are genuinely our own, or just the sum result of a predictable pattern of brain-waves, or neural pathways firing, or some intelligently designed plan, it's all going to end the same way.

 

[Sonicron]

Why yes, Free Willy does exist, it's a movie. Silly question, that.

Oh, wait...