Free will does not really exist. If it did then every desire we had would be able to be actualized. If I were to say, “I want to fly to Sirius,” according to the premise that free will exists, I would be able to do so right then and there. We are bound by natural laws that constrict our will such that we do only what we are bound to do at any given point in time. There are certainly windows in which we are able to do what we want, but I would say those windows are actually the reward we receive for following the laws, and may be more apt to be a product of what one might call “fate” than free will.
There are an infinite number of factors which drive us to make the choices we make, and only an infinitesimal portion of those factors relate to desire (unless you are talking about the desire to survive). If there really was such a thing as free will, then no one would feel bound by anything, no one would suffer, and then what would life be like? It would be chaos. Even before we can think, we are bound by the laws of nature. From our very conception, our genetic makeup is set beyond our control, as is our environment, so where does that leave room for free will? Every instant that we are alive, we are absorbing information. This information is interpreted in a way that is predetermined by the information we received in moments prior, according to our own predispositions and genetic makeup. As soon as we are conceived, we are set on a trajectory that we have absolutely no knowledge of and no control over. To say that we have free will is like saying that magic is real, that we have the power to warp nature according to our own desires. But it simply is not so. Everything is predetermined, or rather, everything is determined beyond what one might call “will.”
It is true that at any given instant there are an infinitude of choices one can make. But one will always make the choice that reflects their genetics and their prior experiences with their environment, whether it be the “right” choice or the “wrong” choice. The fact is, there is no “choice” at all.
For instance, this essay—I had no choice but to set out to write it, and I will explain what I mean. I live in a group home, and the house manager is a young, attractive female whom I have developed feelings for (certainly I didn’t choose to develop feelings for her, but that is a whole other matter altogether). Recently, due to the COVID-19 virus (which I also have no control over), instead of the usual policy where the residents are required to be out of the house from 10 to 2, we have been holding groups in the house from 10 to 12. Today, Missy, the house manager, had an appointment with Gerty, the director of the program, and therefore she left us to our own devices. Normally, she assigns us an activity to do during the times which she goes to these meetings, but today she is allowing us to do “whatever we want.” I was outside smoking a cigarette when she made this announcement, so when I came back in, she told me that I could either, A. write a syllabus for a group for the following week B. do an online class or, C. “do nothing.” And then she said, “because, you know, you have free will.” “I didn’t realize,” I replied. And then she said, “It’s nice to be reminded of that, isn’t it?”
Now, it should be stated that yesterday, I made a flirtatious remark to Missy. This fact impacted the way I initially interpreted her comment about free will. I thought to myself, “She wants me to act on my desire.” But then I remembered the fact that she had already told me that there would be no relationship between us, so my interpretation changed into: “She wants me to stop making flirtatious remarks to her.” But then I was finally resigned to the fact that I had no idea what her remark was inferring, and that, actually, it probably wasn’t inferring anything at all, but was just actually, like most things, a meaningless turn of a phrase. But because of who I am—because of my genetic makeup and my past experiences—I could not come to terms with the fact that it was an empty phrase and that it had no deeper meaning. And it was this unfulfilled desire to understand—this inability to will myself to understand—that drove me to think, “There is no such thing as free will, and I must set out to prove it.” Naturally, I have proven nothing, but that fact altogether seems to support my claim all the more. If I had free will, I would be able to prove that free will does not exist, for that is what I set out to do. But have I done it? Have I accomplished this monumental feat, when so many writers in the past have set out such wonderful arguments in favor of the existence of free will? Probably not, and thus, I prove my point. There is no such thing as free will, because if there was, I would come off as an omnipotent being and my claim would seem unobjectionable, but I am not an omnipotent being and my claim is not unobjectionable. And even if I were wrong, and I do come across that way, where is your own free will? Are you not my captive, forced to believe as I do?
As I have shown, the factors that led me to write this essay were all beyond my control. Is it not the same for the case of you reading this essay? Perhaps you have long since stopped reading it. Perhaps it came off as paltry and ill-founded. But why did you think that? Perhaps your IQ is higher than mine. Perhaps you have had experiences that have led you to firmly believe in the existence of free-will. Perhaps you simply don’t like me or my style of writing. But are any of these factors under your control? No, and that is because free will does not exist.
Time is progressing at a steady rate, and space is limited. I cannot travel to Sirius because time has not progressed enough for the technology that would allow me to get to Sirius to be developed. And, I cannot prove that free will does not exist because there is a limited amount of space in my brain for information that might support my claim. These two factors, the steady progression of time, and the limits of space, are the other factors that support my claim. And as genetics and environmental conditions determine what a person will and will not do in any given point, time and space determine what a person can and cannot do. They are the factors that determine one’s genetics and one’s environment. Both forms are forms of law, and within their four-cornered structure, we as individuals, as human beings, are bound. One may certainly bang one’s head against the wall of this structure, but that will lead only to insanity. And I would say that for some, insanity is indeed inevitable, as all things are inevitable. Some would also say that free will is an alternative to divine intervention. I would say that, divine intervention and free will are actually two sides of the same coin. For if we truly have free will, that would mean that we have the power to transcend natural law, which would make us divine. But if you study the human body—including the brain—you will see that we are anything but divine. We have a limited number of cells, and therefore are limited in our potential. Even the universe has a limited number of cells, and therefore is limited. It is easy for one to quibble with the idea that we have no free will, and say that I am a defeatist and a cynic. But that fact has already been proven to me thousands of times. The question is, will I change? It is certainly a possibility, for who am I to say whether the events of my future coincident with my genetic makeup won’t change me into something other than a cynic and self-defeatist? Anything is possible. I certainly won’t argue that.
But I won’t make it to Sirius. And chances are I won’t ever form a relationship with my house manager, either. And because the majority of desires on my long list of desires won’t be realized, I am content to think that it has nothing to do with will, and completely to do with reality, that reality being one without free will, a reality of laws that constrict our will and sometimes open up a window of fate.
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