Free Will vs Determinism

Free will is one of those abstract concepts where the deeper you go, the more you realise that it has implications on nearly everything we care about as humans. Morality, justice, pride, guilt, responsibility, achievement. 

What Drew Me Into This Question

My interest in free will began during my first year of university in a philosophy class called Mind and World. It was one of those rare subjects that wasn't about memorising content for an exam, but one that changed the way I saw reality.  Then a few years later I read Sam Harris’ book Free Will, and that sent me even deeper down the rabbit hole. His argument is basically that free will is not real at all, and the feeling of choosing your thoughts might itself be an illusion. Some of my psychedelic experiences probably nudged me further in that direction too,  moments where it genuinely felt like thoughts were just appearing, and “I” was merely observing them as they were arising in consciousness, rather than being the creator of the thoughts. It was almost like being seated slightly behind my own mind, watching it do its thing. Which is a pretty strange feeling when you think about it. Because if you’re not consciously authoring your thoughts… then what exactly are you?

Where I Stand

I still don’t really know where I land on all of this.

Because on one hand, determinism makes perfect logical sense to me. 

Oh I should first explain what determinism is. 

Its the idea that every event is caused by something that came before it.  Its an  endless chain of cause and effect stretching back long before any of us existed, all the way to the Big Bang. An easy way to think about it is using the example of a billiards table. Imagine someone strikes the white ball. From that single moment, everything else on the table unfolds according to the laws of physics. The angles, the speed, the collisions, each ball moves exactly a it must. If you could somehow reset the table and replay the shot with the exact same conditions, the outcome wouldn't change. All the balls will end up in the exact same spot. No randomness. Nothing spontaneous. Just cause, followed by effect. Determinism suggests the universe might work in much the same way. 

Our thoughts. Our decisions. Our personalities. All set in motion by prior causes. Like think about it, we didn't choose our parents, we didn't choose where we were born or how we were brought up, we didn't chose our genes, or any of the early experiences that shaped the way our brains interpret the world. All of our character traits we take pride in (for me thats being ridiculously smart and funny), and the ones that makes us shake our heads at ourselves, where did they actually come from? Is there space for me to truly be able to shape them, or did I just inherit the conditions which make them inevitable? 

Try to think of your next thought. You can't. It just shows up. So are we really generating our thoughts, or are we just becoming aware of them?

Where I struggle is that determinism assumes something pretty big -  that reality is purely physical. Just atoms and electrical signals firing in the brain. 

And I’m just not sure I’m convinced that’s all there is.

My Desire For Free Will

I want free will to exist. Maybe its just cope, but so much of what gives human lives meaning seems to depend on it. Because if free will is just an illusion, what exactly are we left with? Does someone really deserve success if they were always going to succeed? How can someone be truly blamed for their actions if they couldn't have chosen otherwise? How does moral responsibility survive?

Why This Question Is So Sensitive

A sensitive topic to religious people because without free will, Christianity, Judaism and Islam don't make any sense. Concepts like sin, redemption, and moral responsibility all hinge on the assumption humans have the freedom to chose their actions. 

A sensitive topic to atheists since it seems to touch everything human beings care about and everything that makes us distinctly human - our sense of morality, our laws and justice systems, our personal relationships, our feelings of personal accomplishments, our feelings of guilt, and our very essence of individuality.

Most of what we care about in human life depends upon being able to view other people as being the conscious source of their thoughts and actions. If we are not the conscious source of our thoughts and actions, what does this imply for how we view ourself and others?

To be continued...