What really is "free will"?

Free will still exist what we do is calculate possibilities and odds after the fact, like if you decide to go hiking and get caught in a blizzard which results in your death, we then calculate that incident along with other accidents of the same nature then we are able to give odds of this type of accident occurring. We are a large population, it is ridiculous to think that that our free will choice will be unique to just us, the chances are that someone else has decided the same thing, it just stands to reason. So although it would seem from statistics that the decisions we make can be anticipated they are still a free decision. Free will choice is defined by personal actions based on our own personal experiences.

There may be billions of variables.. but in practice we are all limited to mostly predictable sets of circumstance.

In this country we are funneled (from birth) into an artificial system.. quite apart from the natural world. So then is not "free will" tossed at us as though those billions of variables actually were an option for us..? ie: talk is cheap..

Of course there are those relative few that completely remove themselves from the entire "sphere of influence" - let's say for example take a corporate "mogul" that just chucked it all to slip off to work as a bartender on a permanent world cruise (condo) ship.. not very predictable.

I'm sure you can think of even greater deviations from the "expected" - ?? "norm" ?? lol..

So yes, it is possible to use your "free will" - but you of course must be motivated and make the jump(s) required to depart from all the expected "moves" society expects..

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life is a series of events that are directly and indirectly linked like the branches of a tree, and although our choices are merely parts of that series they are still very much our own..

on the other hand, i don't think there really is such a thing as 'free' in this world. You may consider an animal to be free in the wild, but its life is restricted by its environment and the resources within it. A traveler may be free to visit any country in the world, but is restricted by the availability of funds. A nation's citizens may be free to pursue their individual ambitions but they are restricted by the laws of their land.

What we call 'freedom' of choice always comes with at least two restrictions: circumstance/environment (as you have mentioned) and responsibility. So, technically, nothing and no one is truly free..

i'm of the opinion that fate and freedom (of will) are closely linked, that our destinies are within the knowledge of god but We must still make the choices on our own. As it is, almost everything about our world and ourselves is paradoxical in nature..

so the question is; do our choices forge our destinies or reveal them?

thanks for the question :) it's a good one but i think it's one of those unanswerable ones..

Free will simply means to ablitiy to think for yourself. To use reason, etc. I don't think people think about variables to this extreme as in chemical makeup effecting most things.

Think about this. You want to go to the grocery store to get some orange juice. How do you get there? Let's assume by car. It's a sunny day. Do you assess what you're doing? Do you go on online and google "chances of being in a car accident on a five minute drive to the grocery store on a sunny day"? No, it's something you almost inherently do correct? This is based on the deep rooted belief in your subconscious. How many car accidents have you been in? one, two? You probably still don't let it effect the fact you need to use your car to get orange juice. Unless you got in a car accident everytime you used your car, you would evaluate all these variables. But because most people have safe rides in their cars, they don't even stop to think about it unless there are extraneous variables (like snow etc). Oh, and on being to predict the future because of it, no you couldn't because other people have free will. How would you be able to predict if you were driving down the street and the person driving on the otherside isn't going to decide to drink alcohal, or just lose there mind and crash into you?

I think free will is individuality. The rite to choose right from wrong and then to live with the consequences.

Jehovah gave Adam and Eve freewill. He also gave Satan (before he became Satan freewill) and the choice to use it. When the devil seduced Eve he knew about freewill but managed to twist things to justify his own selfish desires - by putting doubt into her mind. 'Is it true that God said you may not eat from any tree?' he played on emotion and desire which is what freewill is about.

A loving God, that Jehovah is would not put an idea into our heads if he already knew we would be unable to keep to it. He, like a parent, gave a command, loving instruction or guidance and left it to us (our freewill) to choose to obey - knowing the consequences would help us make the right choice.

"...that which you call "free will" is your mind's freedom to think or not, the only will you have, your only freedom, the choice that controls all the choices you make and determines your life and your character."

"Because man has free will, no human choice—and no phenomenon which is a product of human choice—is metaphysically necessary. In regard to any man-made fact, it is valid to claim that man has chosen thus, but it was not inherent in the nature of existence for him to have done so: he could have chosen otherwise.

"Choice, however, is not chance. Volition is not an exception to the Law of Causality; it is a type of causation."

"Reason does not work automatically; thinking is not a mechanical process; the connections of logic are not made by instinct... In any hour and issue of your life, you are free to think or to evade that effort."

"A man's volition is outside the power of other men...Nothing can force a man to think. Others may offer him incentives or impediments, rewards or punishments, they may destroy his brain by drugs or by the blow of a club, but they cannot order his mind to function: this is in his exclusive, sovereign power. Man is neither to be obeyed nor to be commanded."

Good question Brother. Free will is based on knowing what is right and what is wrong. In todays world it is harder to know that as the Bible says a sign of the last days is that the things what used to be right are now wrong and what was wrong is now right.

As a Christian I have to go by what the Bible says is right and wrong. Then I choose the right thing according to the Bible, even if I don't agree with it. That's having faith.

Yeah its free because humans cant accurately predict what other humans are going to do. The only one who can do that is God and he choses not to so it is very much free will except in the absolute sense of Jehovah knowing it.

this is a good point. but there are too many factors to determine the people. there are billions of people on earth and each one's actions affect others, affect the environment, economy and government. Also people adapt to changes around them. i think it would be possible in a controlled environment. but with billions of people having free will to make choices (good or bad) and with those choices possibly affecting all of us, i dont think its possible on that large of a scale.

To me free will is the opportunity to be informed, and make knowledgable decision based on the information and my reasoning ability. I can compare pro and con or just make a decision based on experience. Good question Brother. Agape