Free Will
The topic of free will seeks to understand if people have the capacity to genuinely make their own decisions.
Cause and Effect
Think of the last time someone annoyed you. Maybe it was your little brother deliberately doing that thing you hate, your dad telling a story for the fiftieth time as though it were brand new, or a driver cutting you off in traffic like they owned the road. In each of these scenarios, you probably felt frustrated because it seemed like the other person chose to act in a way that irritated you. After all, they could have decided to do something different (less annoying) if they'd really wanted to, right? Well… maybe not.
Scientists, philosophers, and our everyday experiences generally agree that our universe operates on the principle of cause and effect. From the moment we’re born, we learn that actions have consequences:
IF I drop my toy, THEN it will fall to the ground.
IF I make a funny face, THEN people will laugh.
IF... THEN... / CAUSE... EFFECT...
But what does cause and effect have to do with free will? Great question. If EVERYTHING is subject to cause and effect within the natural laws of the universe–and nothing supernatural exists–then there is a very good chance that free will does not exist! This philosophical position, called determinism, suggests that every event, including human actions and decisions, is the result of a chain of causes stretching back to the beginning of time. If you knew all of the starting conditions of the universe (the distribution of matter and energy, for instance) and the natural laws that govern the world (gravity, magnetism, reactivity, etc.), you could predict the outcome of everything all the way to the end of time! According to determinism, your little brother’s annoying behavior, your dad’s habit of repeating himself, and even that rude driver’s lane change weren’t really “choices” in the way we usually think of them, they were just the inevitable outcomes of genetics, upbringing, past experiences, and countless other factors... you might even say they were destined to annoy you!
Free will, on the other hand, would contend that everyone had control over their own actions. Your brother could have chosen something differently, but chose not to. The environment and preceding events didn't force the car driver to drive aggressively. Instead, he used his independent will to choose to cut you off.
Free Will and Complexity
One thing people consider when pondering free will and determinism is that people, the decisions they make, and our brains are incredibly complex. Maybe their complexity is what enables freedom in decision making? But even though our brains are complicated, that doesn't make them any freer. Imagine you set up a row of ten dominoes, and arrange them so that they will fall into each other. Now imagine creating a maze of dominoes that fills an entire classroom, carefully arranged so every piece is perfectly aligned to fall into the next one. This maze is much more elaborate and impressive than the simple row, but it still works the same way: once you push the first domino, the fate of the last domino has been decided. The increased complexity didn't make the system any freer, it just made it more interesting to watch! Even the most complicated thing you can dream of could ultimately be driven by cause and effect: every molecular interaction and reaction, every feeling ever felt, and every thought in existence.
In the next section, we'll consider some of the implications of free will and determinism. For now, let's investigate whether you think people have agency and freedom in the decisions they make!