I thought I would tackle the topic of free will. Some of my argument will relate to any religion involving a god or gods (or no god at all), but when I use scriptural references, they will be biblical, as that is the religion I am most familiar with, and it is the religion of most people I argue with. I made this essay fairly detailed, because I have addressed this topic again and again with people, and I always end up banging my head against the wall. I feel this tends to be because most people do not understand psychology, and if you don’t understand what forms your personality in the first place, then you really aren’t in a position to debate the topic. It’s like debating the big bang when all you think you know was that it was a literal explosion, or debating car engines when you’ve never even looked under the hood of one.

First, let’s lay down the basics of what a personality is and where it comes from. According to Columbia Encyclopedia, “personality, in psychology, [is] the patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion unique to an individual, and the ways they interact to help or hinder the adjustment of a person to other people and situations.” I’m sure you’re all saying “duh,” but I want to be clear.

So, how do personalities develop? Today, the majority of psychologists agree that it is a combination of nature and nuture, that is, there are both biological and environmental factors that help shape and change a personality.

Let’s look at the environmental aspect. Sociology is the scientific field of study that focuses on how a person’s environment affects them mentally. In sociology, “environment” isn’t just talking about trees, grass, bears, rainbows, and other hippy stuff-it’s talking about any stimulus that is perceived by the brain. So, our interaction with other people, animals, smells, tastes, sounds, etc-these are all stimuli which make up our environment. These help shape who we are.

Look at a culture on the other side of the planet. Why are they that way? Has their biology driven them to have a culture different than yours? No, because you can take a baby from any culture around the world, bring it up in your culture, and it will speak your language and for the most part, follow your ways.Children are not pre-programmed for their culture. Now, there is always the exception, in which you will have someone go outside of the norm, but these are never cases of someone having the instinctual drive to behave according to the culture you took them from.

Is it a coincidence that most religious people believe in the same religion as their parents, regardless of whether or not they are adopted? Is it a coincidence that children who are abused are more likely to grow up and abuse others? Is it a coincidence that most children grow up to have the similar political views as their parents? Is it a coincidence that children of overweight parents often grow up to be overweight as well? Is it a coincidence that children with parents who have addiction problems tend to grow up to have similar issues?

Anyone who spends time around children knows what sponges they are. You can shape them to a large extent. There is a well known story of a girl called Genie, which every North American psychology or sociology student learns about at some point. It’s a sad story of a thirteen-year-old girl who was found locked in a closet. She had been locked in there for ten years. She spent her days tied to a potty chair, and her nights tied in a sleeping bag. She was never let out for social interaction. (http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=genie)

She was studied by many scientists, and ended up being fostered by the head of the scientific group that studied her. She behaved like an animal at first, and after about six months, she was more like an 18-20-month-old child. Throughout the years, she showed great improvement, learning complex ideas and non-verbal communication, but she never learned to form normal sentences. The scientists determined that she was not retarded, but that the lack of stimulus during crucial development stages had caused her left brain to become virtually inactive. As far as we know, she never aquired the skills of sentence construction.

When you look at the story of this girl, you realize just how much your environment (socialization) determines who you become. Without a “normal environment, you do not develop a “normal” personality. There are countless cases of abused children growing up to become abusers themselves, or be attracted to one. They are also more prone to substance abuse and criminal activity.

Now, some of you are probably thinking “oh, he’s just making up excuses for them.” You might even have your own personal experience, where you went through a tough childhood, or know someone who did, and you think things “turned out just fine.” Well, that’s great for you or them, but that only shows that you or others are biologically more resilient than most. Do you think it’s just a coincidence that adults with certain problems are more likely to have had a terrible childhood? Do you think those children chose to grow up and have terrible lives? Who really wants a drug problem? Or anger issues? Who wants to ruin their life and everyone elses life by being an alcoholic? Who wants any number of personality disorders caused by a tragic child hood? Anyone?…..Anyone at all?

On a superficial level, you may think we have choices, and we all choose who we are, but can anyone really deny that everyone struggles with certain problems? According to the bible (and many other religions), everyone sins (Romans 3:23). I’m sure you have your own “vices.” There are “sins” or bad behavior that you wish you had no desire for, but you do, and sometimes, you partake in that activity. People end up with addictions. Would you deny that a person with a clinical addiction to alcohol has a harder time staying away from a drink? Or that a person addicted to pain pills, or other drugs has a harder time staying clean? Or that someone who’s smoked a pack a day has a harder time staying away from cigarettes? These addictions are actually caused by physical activity in the brain. It’s not due to some magical entity, like a demon, or some other spirit. Scientists can observe this activity in the brain.

People who believe in free will within their religion tend to think that, ultimately, the choices are up to us, and we can either seek help from god, or give in to the devil, who’s making it difficult. But when you can observe the physical causes and effects that define our actions, there’s no room for “spiritual warfare” in these cases. We can observe the cause and affect in the lab, and that’s all there is to it.

The tobacco industry doesn’t put satan in their products-they put in nicotine. Pharmaceutical companies don’t put demons into their products-they put in elements that cause a chemical change in the brain, which can cause addiction. There are physical explanations for these behaviors.

Now, let’s talk a little about the biological factors. Biology is hard to separate from the environment, because, technically, the enviroment affects our biology. Our senses pick up information from the environment, and cause a physical reaction to our biology. But in this instance, I mean biology as it relates to your genetic makeup, and how that affects who you are.

Reposted with the permission of the author AKR