Free will?

Physically and technically we do, the government likes to think they have control but we ain't sheeple.

 

We aren't sims, so yes.

 

I believe we do, yes. That being said, there definitely exists a philosophically ambiguous grey area where arguments can be made that we don't actually possess free will. The debates about determinism vs. free will are incredibly intriguing but always leave my brain feeling like mush. It's all so deep.

 

Maybe. I don't have enough information. We would need a fully mature field of neuroscience, probably enough to write fully functional AIs, to answer a question like that.

In the view of the incredible complexity of biology, our inability to cognize our inner workings, and our inability to isolate all contributory factors in reasoning sure seem to conspire to convince us that we have free well.

So it appears that we have it. I'm not convinced there's a proof we have it, but then again, there's not a proof that the universe is completely deterministic in the way a program is.

 

I'd prefer to think we do.
But unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily mean it is.

 

Yaaass we do.


I thought the title was Free Willy at first :3

 

Yes we do. =)

Although sometimes, things will be done against your will. That doesn't mean you don't have a free will. =]

 

I voted yes, but it's more complicated than that. I obviously don't believe in any kind of religious determinism, and I'm beginning to think that in the absence of a creator, the question doesn't make sense.

Let me explain. Free will could be defined as the ability to make decisions independent of any influence on our minds. Certainly, we don't have a deity or a telepath projecting thoughts into our minds, and we weren't designed by any intelligent creature so as to make decisions in a certain way. So how, then, do we make decisions? By an assessment of the available knowledge, and of our desires, perhaps influenced in part by our emotional and/or biological states. Is this free? We're still being influenced in our decisions. However, what is the alternative? Some true random process in our brains? That may not be deterministic, but it's hardly under our control. So my eventual conclusion to this thought process was that the question is unintelligible.

 

Neutrally we should have it.

But traditions, the way we brought up, religion, education and culture all create dead ends to that will.

Again we are willingly obey those laws so yeah it is free will.

 

Or are we? Have you ever walked into a room, only to forget why you were doing there? That's the player cancelling your action.


I voted yes, however, I don't think we are as free as we like to think we are.

 

There are a lot of paths to take in life, but many are impassable to the many, and some are impassable for the few. We can choose to go down a road without a guarantee of succeeding to its end. We have free will, but that free will can only go so far.

We can try, but to succeed or fail is sometimes not a matter of free will. The circumstances into which we're born, the people who exercise their own will in conflict to ours and natural changes over which we have no control are factors that limit our choices.

I don't believe we're guided by a destiny set out for us and we can make choices about many things, but pathways set out for us by culture, money, education, ability, region etc. are undoubtedly not our choices.

(A note: I'm really not bothered to write something genuinely valuable or philosophical today)

 

To a degree, yes.

I view free will similar to a sail in the wind. You can set the sail, to go the direction you want, but the wind -- life, people, emotions, experiences, etc -- will control part of the journey. You have the choice to either utilize that wind, or to let it blow you around.

 

I tell myself we have free will, to stay sane, but if I get philosophical I believe in determinism. At least, I think that is the term for "a mixture of all past events in out life= our current choice." The actions we take are actions we have to take because of all the previous events leading up to the choice. But, there's really no wy to prove either way. I vote no, since I believe the bottom line is we don't. Still, as a society we need to pretend we do; we have to hold murders accountable, for example.

 

Now that is a scary thought...

*yells above* type motherlode, MOTHERLOOOODE!!! :badgrin:

 

this! XD

And I think we have to a point, it depends on if we're strong enough to stand up to people who try to control us? Idk

 

Morality, or doing what is right vs. doing what is wrong would be meaningless without free will. Nevertheless, we are buffeted by so many influences and so many "no choice" situations that one is left wondering what it is we actually choose.

Despite this, and the impossibly thin margin of choice that we have, free will is a necessary condition for being human.

 

Yes, but there's nothing against a possibility of our thoughts and actions that supposedly "prove" our own free will just being predetermined. Although that more or less conflicts with the whole alternate universe thing which I believe in.

 

Yes, but it's a lot more complicated than a yes/no question.

 

Yes. The caveat to that being I'm not an agent-casual libertarian.

I'm more of a classical compatibalist, along the lines of Hume and Hobbes, where it isn't vulgar free will, but is instead freedom to act. This hinges on defining free will in such a way that it is compatable with determinism.

And even if hard determinism ends up being true (something which I don't think is currently supported by scientific evidence that folks like Sam Harris like to cart around), Free Will as a concept may still be a necessary and useful fiction for determining moral responsibility.