Does free will really exist?

It seems everything we do and think is conditioned by past experience and reflection on past experience. And I suspect that our reflecting on our reflecting, and our reflecting on our reflecting on our reflecting etc. are shaped by our mental tendencies, which I believe are not entirely under our control. So in each instance, it seems that in a vastly complex way, everything we do, think and feel, is pre-determined, by what we are (our biology, make up, traits, the fact we're human beings, the capacity to learn etc.), the environment we live in, and our experiences.

For instance, does a person really consciously choose their likes and dislikes? Or do they really become aware of them, and believe that they were consciously chosen?

I don't think there's ever a situation where you can't say "this was entirely a conscious choice with no influence by past programming, perceptions, emotions, believes, societal values or the fact I'm a human being living on planet Earth, etc."

2011-06-19T06:30:37Z

Correction of last paragraph:

I don't think there's ever a situation where you *can* say "this was entirely a conscious choice with no influence by past programming, perceptions, emotions, believes, societal values or the fact I'm a human being living on planet Earth, etc."

2011-06-19T06:52:02Z


Did your sister chose not to like shrimp in the first place? When she finally tried it, and liked it, did she choose that she would like the shrimp, or just realise that there was a mental and emotional response that wasn't one of disgust as she'd expected? Did she choose the conditions (environment, level of persuasion, level of alcohol) she'd need to lessen the original disgust/fear about trying shrimp to bypass that inhibition?

?2011-06-19T06:37:01Z

Favorite Answer

freewill is absolute. You can not choose an outcome but you do choose an action. The outcome will be random based on Chaos Theory. Every time you start a car you believe the car will start. Does it every time? It is freewill but freewill does not affect reality. One day the car will not start no matter how much you try.

It is freewill to keep on trying in the hopes of success. If you do not get it started how long do you try for? What if the next time you try it might start? When do you make the choice to stop trying and call a tow truck? Freewill is choice and you always have a choice. You have no control over outcome.

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All hat2011-06-19T13:52:00Z

Free will to perceive, or free will to act? It makes a difference.

You make a good point that we are all products of our prior experiences, genetic predispositions, early life socializing, and whether or not we got laid this week. No doubt.

BUT - however we find ourselves feeling at this moment, we still can, and in fact are expected to, control our behavior. That is free will. Too, we can decide what we're going to do today. We may accept some social contracts, such as a job, and we give away some of our free will to that, but even that is a choice.

On any given day I think most of us run the whole gamut of emotions - we may laugh and smile a few times, get mad a few times, possibly sad or hurt a few times, bored some of the time, frightened - but at the end of the day, did we go to work? Wash the car? Be mean to someone else? Fix the latch on the screen door? We maybe can't exercise free will over how we feel, tho the drug and alcohol industries might differ, but we can exercise free will over how we behave. I think.

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Sophist2011-06-19T13:51:00Z

It depends on you point of view. From the omniscience POV, no. What we choose out of a field of choices depends on previous conditions and events because they determine our emotional/mental state at the time of selection. These thing don't materialize out of nothing. They are the result of biological processes. We cannot be more than we are at any given instant. That is not to say that we cannot be better than we are, but that is a judgement call of an observer. Not one that we make ourselves, except in hindsight. "It seemed like a good idea at the time." is a valid argument. We seldom see the final outcome of the choices we make. Even the fact that there may have been other choices at the time, we are blinded by our emotional/mental state at the time of selection. So, free will is an illusion of circumstance. It is no more valid than a mirage.

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DK522011-06-19T15:34:48Z

You are talking about two different things here:
1) Free will.
2) Behaviors.

Free will:
I wake up and decide "I'm going to murder so and so".
I believe in God and the word.
I chose not to murder today.
I don't believe in God and the word.

That is free will. There is no one stopping me from any of those actions and or thoughts.

Behaviors are social and what is taught and or experienced. A behavior is done out of reflex or habit whereas free will one puts their mind to a task, has to put some thought into a matter.

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?2011-06-19T13:54:43Z

Freewill doesn't really exist the public are really just controlled by society a truly free human is if society was gone and they did everything they wanted without fear or compulsion or any morality for example a child is repeatedly told to do something if it keeps happening throughout their entire lives they still do it because it is a compulsion when you look at a human your looking at a robot or a slave

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