The issue of free will seems like such a big deal. But is it?
free will: the ability to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.
The Dictionary
I’d argue that once you understand what’s happening physically in nature, free will becomes a mundane subject. The answer is simply yes and no, depending on how you’re looking at the question.
- Yes, we experience free will.
- No, free will does not hinge on the question of fundamental determinism. We’d be able to experience unimpeded decisions regardless of whether those decisions were deterministic in origin. For example, not too long ago we lived in an apparently deterministic Newtonian Universe (before the discovery of probabilistic/indeterministic quantum physics). Did our ability to choose unimpeded change after we discovered determinism is impossible? Of course not.
- No, we do not possess free will that transcends the physical world; we (our brains) are bound by the same rules that govern everything else in the Universe.
- No, the trajectory of our lives could not have been calculated in the distant past and set in motion (the uncertainty principle is an actual physical limitation, not just an abstract idea).
Free will is a classic scenario where philosophy leads the charge until science becomes sufficiently advanced to provide a definitive answer. I’m sure the debate will continue, but unless I’m missing some critical detail it’s case closed for me.