free will is a very ill-defined concept. in at least one way, one may claim truthfully that no one has free will because the consequences of the actions of others, as well as our own will affect our lives and restrict the possible array of choices we can make.
ultimately, we can do whatever we are mentally willing to and are physically capable of, so in that sense, free will is a reality, but one that has consequences like everything else
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I definitely am intrigued... I just don't want to feel as if I'm a victim to my own life, which I realize is a bit pessimistic, but very basically, if I'm not happy and have never been happy, I have no control to change that and I'm just waiting for it to bang and change. Discouraging.
this can get very convoluted and messy, but of course you have at least some recognisable manner of choice over what/how you think/feel. as i mentioned before, this can be interpreted different ways imho, and may well lead to the fact that we truly *dont* have free will, in some respect or other. the thing is, it probably isn't as important as you make it. what i think is important is realising what your purpose is and then fulfilling it, so to speak, and perhaps one may not have the free will to do that, but if fate, then, has us destined to find our meaning, then it will happen. while we're waiting (again imho), i just don't think it's so necessary to endlessly mull over the yes-it-can-be-depressing fact that we probably don't have free will at all in the way we'd often like to believe we do.
Yeah, it is pretty pointless, and I understand that... it would just be nice to have some sort of "evidence" pointing one way or another to the specifics I'm looking for.
there's probably more evidence towards an absence of free will, then, i think, because all the other forces in the universe would almost certainly overwhelm a single person's attempt to rule their own life. but that depends on what your definition of free will is.
if free will=think what you want, then of course no one is likely to be able to directly decide your thought process, but as you mentioned there are also chemicals and other forces at play that help to determine them. so ultimately, i'd personally say that all or most signs point to the fact that no, in most contexts free will is an illusion.
ultimately, we can do whatever we are mentally willing to and are physically capable of, so in that sense, free will is a reality, but one that has consequences like everything else ( ... )
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if free will=think what you want, then of course no one is likely to be able to directly decide your thought process, but as you mentioned there are also chemicals and other forces at play that help to determine them. so ultimately, i'd personally say that all or most signs point to the fact that no, in most contexts free will is an illusion.
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