An essay on free will - Section 3
February 21, 2008 by Luci
Some people would like to believe that god simply set things in motion, and lets each human fend for themselves, with a little bit of help from above, now and then. They seem to think that he can simply step back, wash his hands from our bad choices, as if he has nothing to do with them. The problem is, his name is still stamped on everything in creation. He can’t escape it. It would be like creating a computer program to fail, and when it fails, you get pissed at that program and say, “hey, I just made that thing and left it to do what it wants.” Or it’s like setting a marble at the top of a hill and letting it roll down, while you understand how the gravity you created, and the changing surface of the hill you created will affect how the marble you created gets down the hill, and then getting angry at it for it ending up in a puddle. You simply can’t create something, knowing exactly how it will act or react to every stimulus, and say you don’t determine it’s direction in life.
Now, I’ve been speaking with the assumption that god is omnipotent/omniscient, but this is similar to why free will fails even in a world with a less powerful/knowledgeable god, or no god at all. I even have trouble convincing atheists and agnostics that free will doesn’t exist even when there’s no god pulling the strings. If biology and environment are responsible for your behavior, you’re still stuck with what developed into the universe, and eventually, into you. No one chooses their biology, and no one has complete control over their environment. Technically, you don’t have any control over your environment either, since your biology affects what you choose for your environment (when you have a “choice”). Even if there was a third factor that determined your behavior, you did not create that piece of yourself. So whether it’s an omniscient/omnipotent god, a god less powerful/knowledgeable, or no god at all, it all comes back to that moment of creation, which you had absolutely no choice in
Now, does this mean that no one should get in trouble for anything, and we should all run out and do all sorts of naughty things? Hell yeah! Ok, not really. We all have limitations, but those of us who are “morally upstanding” do so because it’s who we are. I can’t help that I want to live by the golden rule, and neither can others. Some are slaves to bad behavior, and others, are slaves to good behavior.
Now, I want to cover all bases, so let’s briefly talk about those people who say that there are random quatum variations, and therefore, no behavior can be predicted 100%, when we look at it from the perspective of psychology. Well, that’s fine, seeing as how no one can consciously control those quantum fluctations, so really, it’s just a weak argument, meant to sound complex. Quantum fluctuations or not, it’s obvious they don’t have that strong of an effect on the outcome of people’s personalities, since psychology is rather accurate. All you have to do is look at statistics to see that most people in certain circumstances are affected in rather predicitable ways. And as previously stated, no one can control those random quantum fluctuations. That’s why they’re called “random.”
It’s been said by some serious deniers that satan affects those parts of the brain that determine our decisions, and that’s why we can see changes in the brain. Well, that’s pretty inventive, but let’s briefly examine that idea. If it’s satan doing this, why is it that certain disorders only happen when the fetus is exposed to a particular substance? Or why is it that people with a family history of a disorder or disease are more likely to have it? On the other end, how come medication, brain surgery, and therapy can lessen or reverse some of these problems? There is absolute no room for an evil spirit in this scenario.
Some people are fairly grounded in reality, but they still think that somewhere inside, you have the the power to make the choice to overcome any obsticle. They say, “oh, you can choose to get help for your Bipolar disorder, or your ADD, or your Skizophrenia.” Well, no, you can’t. First off, you have to recognize that you have a disorder or illness in the first place. There are millions of people around the world who go undiagnosed, sometimes, for their entire life.
Second, you would still have to assume that there’s a magic “free will” center in your brain that is unaffected. This doesn’t make sense. Either you have free will or you don’t. How would you have the ability to choose to get help, but not the ability to be unaffected in the first place? It’s an idea that is inconsistant, impossible to calculate, and completely lacking in evidence.
Even if you could choose to get help, it’s not as simple as walking into the office of a psychologist, having them toss you a bottle of pills, and heading off to Disney Land. People can be on medication and they can get therapy for years and it’s still not going to fix everything. Some things simply can’t be fixed by current medical science. I mean, you can’t make an underdeveloped right hemisphere grow larger, or permanently and completely heal all parts of a disfunctional brain.
You simply can’t cure mental illnesses, you can only lessen the severity. You also have to deal with the fact that some people will stop taking their meds. You can call this a choice, but it’s simply part of the disease. Furthermore, does this mean that people in third world nations, or people who existed before modern medicine did not have free will, because they could not seek help? If it’s not something you can fix yourself with the power of your mind, then it is not up to free will; it is up to physical forces, that you may or may not have access to.
Even if we get to the point where we can cure all mental diseases that affect our personality, that would mean that everyone up to that point did not have free will. Even then, we would still not have free will, because mental illness is not the only thing that affects our choices; it’s simply an example of the extreme to show how our environment and biology affect our personalty. Disorder or no disorder, it all ties into the same thing.
Romans 9:16 It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
22 What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory.
So, according to Christianity, everyone’s purpose is set in stone. Some of us are predestined to be destroyed so god can show off, while others are designed to go to heaven. Christians, your own bible destroys the idea of free will.
Whether you’re a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist, an Atheist, or anything else, we’re really all in the same boat. There has never been any logical explanation for how we can have free will in any type of scenario. Creator or no creator, none of us create ourselves. None of us choose our parents, or our parents parents. None of us choose what environment we will be born into or how that will affect us. Any decisions you make or any changes you make to yourself are dependent on what you were given to work with in the first place. A person who dies because of a bad addiction is no different than a person who turns their life around, despite enormous challenges. A person who becomes a republican, or a democrat, or a serial killer, or a Buddhist monk only becomes what their specific biology and environment allow them to become. Free will is an illusion, however difficult it is to fathom. I know, the red pill is so much harder to swallow.
Reposted with permission by AKR
First off I want to address the substance abuse and substance abuse babies. A mother chooses whether or not to drink during pregnancy. If she is addicted, she chose to take that first drink. She made a conscious choice to start drinking. The addictive ingredients in the alcohol now has her addicted, but it is still her choice to have started. Her choice also affected her child. You seem to have passed up the idea that our choices affect others. Not every choice we make is between being "good" or falling into satan's temptation. Our choices are between our own sinful desires. When the first human chose to disobey God and sinned, the rest of us all had that same power inside of us to choose to disobey and sin. Every person will sin because that is our human nature thanks to Adam and Eve. That is why we can only get to heaven through God's grace.
People with bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses did not choose to get them, and we do not know why they get them. I think it is safe to say that even with these disorders they still make decisions that are not affected by the disorder. Now are they at fault for doing something wrong when they cannot control it, no. People who are schizophrenic see and believe things that cause them to do things that are unacceptable in our society. We do not understand why they have these disorders besides possible environmental and natural factors. But I don't understand how people having disorders have to do with the fact that people make decisions everyday. I was born into a Christian home, but I disagree with much that my family believes in, it is my own free will that allows me too, not my environment or biology. My environment and biology may influence me, but it still comes down to me choosing on what happens in my life.
Lets go back to you example of choosing between keeping the wallet or giving it back. You said we choose based on whatever choice has a stronger response in our brains. But, knowing myself, I may keep the money one time, and give it back another. Now I know that keeping the money would be wrong, but I would make the choice to keep it. When you make a choice you are not being forced to do anything, you have the free will to do so. We may be influenced by factors, like choosing to keep the money because we need to pay the rent and we are short this month, but many people would still return the wallet because they feel it is immoral and make a choice.
[Reply]
First off I want to address the substance abuse and substance abuse babies. A mother chooses whether or not to drink during pregnancy. If she is addicted, she chose to take that first drink. She made a conscious choice to start drinking. The addictive ingredients in the alcohol now has her addicted, but it is still her choice to have started. Her choice also affected her child. You seem to have passed up the idea that our choices affect others. Not every choice we make is between being “good” or falling into satan’s temptation. Our choices are between our own sinful desires. When the first human chose to disobey God and sinned, the rest of us all had that same power inside of us to choose to disobey and sin. Every person will sin because that is our human nature thanks to Adam and Eve. That is why we can only get to heaven through God’s grace.
People with bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses did not choose to get them, and we do not know why they get them. I think it is safe to say that even with these disorders they still make decisions that are not affected by the disorder. Now are they at fault for doing something wrong when they cannot control it, no. People who are schizophrenic see and believe things that cause them to do things that are unacceptable in our society. We do not understand why they have these disorders besides possible environmental and natural factors. But I don’t understand how people having disorders have to do with the fact that people make decisions everyday. I was born into a Christian home, but I disagree with much that my family believes in, it is my own free will that allows me too, not my environment or biology. My environment and biology may influence me, but it still comes down to me choosing on what happens in my life.
Lets go back to you example of choosing between keeping the wallet or giving it back. You said we choose based on whatever choice has a stronger response in our brains. But, knowing myself, I may keep the money one time, and give it back another. Now I know that keeping the money would be wrong, but I would make the choice to keep it. When you make a choice you are not being forced to do anything, you have the free will to do so. We may be influenced by factors, like choosing to keep the money because we need to pay the rent and we are short this month, but many people would still return the wallet because they feel it is immoral and make a choice.
[Reply]
These three articles are well written - thanks for taking time to do so. I will add some trite additions to this theme. I have suffered chronic headaches for 14 years. After brain scans etc, they are extremely likely to be caused by my sub-conscious. And the sub-conscious carries out the vast majority of our cognetive tasks, often deluding the conscious mind in the process (see "A mind of it's own" by Cordelia Fine).
After 14 years of trying, I appear to have previous little control over headaches - they are to all intents and purposes outside of my free will control - yet they are still generated by my mind!
On a more common example, the frustration of trying to get to sleep before an important day, to calm nerves before an interview, and the illusion of free will slips away.
[Reply]
These three articles are well written - thanks for taking time to do so. I will add some trite additions to this theme. I have suffered chronic headaches for 14 years. After brain scans etc, they are extremely likely to be caused by my sub-conscious. And the sub-conscious carries out the vast majority of our cognetive tasks, often deluding the conscious mind in the process (see “A mind of it’s own” by Cordelia Fine).
After 14 years of trying, I appear to have previous little control over headaches - they are to all intents and purposes outside of my free will control - yet they are still generated by my mind!
On a more common example, the frustration of trying to get to sleep before an important day, to calm nerves before an interview, and the illusion of free will slips away.
[Reply]