Is free-will impossible?

Question

We feel as if we have free will but is it just an illusion?
Your body and brain are made of atoms which must obey Newton's laws of motion, electromagnetism, and other laws of physics. You can not direct where atoms or groups of atoms go just by thinking about it. They will move according to the laws of physics. Your mind can not force them to violate physics. So every action must be deterministic.

If you consider quantum mechanics, atoms obey probabilistic laws. Your mind can not affect how a wave function collapses just by thinking about it. The collapse is completely random. So our actions are partly deterministic and partly random.
Where is there room for free will? How could your mind possibly control anything, even atoms or nerve impulses in your own brain?

Answer 1

No, it is not.



Determinism collapses under the weight of its own irrationality. If bouncing atoms follow a predetermined or arbitrary course, then our thoughts are just as predetermined and arbitrary. Consequently, words and ideas have no meaning. My "answer" is just as predetermined or pointless as your question. Of course, your question and the answers it attempts to elicit presuppose meaning and the authority of reason. If not, then you have asked nothing.



Under determinism, all terminology related to knowledge are functional synonyms. There are no "true" or "false" statements because these statements are merely effects of antecedent causes belonging to matter in motion. No person can come to any other conclusion than that which they offer. Hence, no view is right, wrong, stupid or brilliant. All you have are atoms bouncing one way or the other. Nobody can accept credit or blame for their words or actions for they are merely the products of antecedent causes. In fact, any *judgment* that an opinion is valid or false is merely an unavoidable DNA dance. Hence, the words "brilliant" or "stupid" are functional synonyms lacking epistemological coherence. Arguments and evaluations are meaningless under the deterministic paradigm. Both the "learned" and the "ignorant" meet at the same ball.



For *knowledge* and *ignorance* to have real meaning, a level of independence must be present. Absent this independence, knowledge and ignorance are synonymous. One must be able to independently evaluate arguments in order for there to be genuine knowledge.



Perhaps one can avoid this problem by denying the reality of knowledge. This maneuver, however, does not avoid implosion. It merely states one "knows" that there is no knowledge. You cannot know something while affirming you cannot know anything.



Hence, a deterministic or whimsical universe is rationally incoherent. A rational person cannot accept the absence of free will.



Please email me if you'd like to discuss this further.



Kind regards,

Scalia

Answer 2

Humans as well as animal have a physical system which is autonomous.

Animals are free to roam but only in the context of their instinct.Humans have a free will in the sense they are not robots.They can do good as well as evil.

As far as our Soul and Spirit function is something we cannot understand.

.Where and how thoughts come into being or idea and invention emerge to life is something to ponder upon.

A computer mimics our Brains.It cannot function unless an external input takes place. In other words a computer cannot come up with an independent function such as ideas or inventions. It has no emotions and cannot distinguish between good and evil.

Do our ideas come from an external input as in the case of the computer?This is also something to ponder upon.



As far as probabilistic function is concerned ,it is just normal interaction to a surrounding to large number of events.

In reality Random events do not really exist as we think they do. Probabilities follow a deterministic equation. So what we assume to be random ,really boils down to determinism.



Quantum mechanics use probabilities formulation to what they cannot observe instantaneously. It basically states a condition of determinacy, that is you cannot stop time instantaneously and measure it. The motion of time can only be estimated as an average.

Time is an inverse function of velocity. The faster an object travels the less time it takes to reach its destination.

Answer 3

No. You say, "You can not direct where atoms or groups of atoms go just by thinking about it." But saying that does not make it true. The movements of my hands are nearly all voluntary movements.



True, quantum mechanics dealt the death blow to the old materialistic deterministic philosophy. But it just introduces uncertainty at the quantum scale. It rarely determines macroscopic events.

Answer 4

The way I see it, we always have free will but there are conditions.



We must believe we can do something. That seems to be the biggest limitation.



There will be consequences, whatevrer they may be.



Unfortunately I realize I should not have said this because I am assuming that mind and body are entirely different things.



If our brain is what makes us think then I see your point.

Answer 5

You are indicating that you believe that we are all preprogrammed, that our every action and thought are predestined. This materialistic idea, that all existence is contained within the physical world is false. How could consciousness be explained as something strictly within the physical realm?



No, we are all sovereign to the extent that our thoughts are our own. We make choices, and we are responsible for our actions.

Answer 6

free will for me is not whether i breath or not or whether i am forced down by gravity that is nature for me free will is the choice of going left or right of saying yes or no based on my opinions.

Answer 7

yes, no, I'm not sure, what would fate have me answer!