I wasnt quite sure where to stick this thread…so in the end I stuck it here. Free will…is it only an illusion? I shall take this at both religious and scientific views.
Free Will in Religion:According to many of the world’s religions some God gave us free will, the ability to choose a path. But for a believer wouldn’t their actions be motivated by dogma and doctrine? Wouldn’t most of their way of life have to follow a set path so as not to fall into the prescribed punishment of straying away from righteousness? Sure, consequences are merely a part of free will, but to reach salvation you have to follow the will of that God. Free will is supposed to be choices made apart from divine intervention, but laying down two paths and saying “You can choose. One leads to eternal happiness and the other leads to eternal horror” is not much of a choice at all.
Also, what about in Christianity and the Revelations. This claims that the end is predestined. If this is so, why is the end able to be controled? By a deity controling us perhaps?
Free Will in Science: Is the universe really as random as this? Perhaps we are all just walking calculations created by the universe. We are all slaves to physics, genetics, hormones, biology and enviroment. If our emotions are controled by hormones and our actions and thoughts controlled by impulses do we have an actual choice? Humans are affected by genetic dispositions as well. Like alchoholism, Schizophrenia, and even even artistic abilities can be passed to us through genetics.
Also, enviroment. Are we not influenced by the people and places we live by? Someone grows up in a republican household, and they become a republican when they grow older. Is this a free choice, or a conditioning? Sure people deviate from their enviroment, but can this be placed with other outside influences?
What freewill tries to account for is our thoughts that we are in control of many of our choices, and thus our destiny - that we are free to think and decide. And that we are responsible for our own choices. But are we?
Perhaps even the little choices we make in life are influenced, rather it be you drink Coca Cola or Pepsi. I would think the media capitalizes on this fact.