Most of the time, we’re under the impression that we have unlimited free will and can do whatever we want – you´re choosing to read this sentence as much as you choose what your favorite song is. Yet, for centuries, Aristotle, Kant, and countless philosophers everywhere have been convinced that we live on autopilot, and everything is simply up to fate. This is quite different from being able to choose; if we were to define free will, it would be to have the ability to decide the future, where you are responsible for everything that happens to you.
Our first argument, that doesn’t believe in free will, is that everyone absolutely has an unchangeable fate and is simply witnessing events unfold before them with zero way to decide what’s coming next. Having no free will, you’re just a bunch of particles put together in a very specific way – particles don’t have any independence or freedom; these particles simply follow the laws of physics, because they have a predetermined fate. If it’s a bit difficult to wrap your head around, imagine that in the split second after the Big Bang, every single particle that would ever exist was already set in motion by the universe. So, in theory, we should be able to predict the exact path of all the particles from that moment until the end of time. So you may feel like you make decisions, but in reality, everything has been spun out for you.
Essentially, the particles that make up your brain cells were decided 14 billion years ago. You’re only good at certain things because of genetics, or you only have certain personality traits due to the circumstances that you’re in. Actions and reactions affect all the particles in the universe, creating a chain reaction that extends throughout time, from the past to the future. You’re just in the room when it happens. You’re only witnessing how the universe unrolls in real time – you don’t really control anything about your life (even if it seems like you do…).
Our second argument, for free will, completely disagrees and thinks this is a really bad way to think about the universe. Whilst we can reduce everything that’s ever existed down to its basic particles, you can’t just explain everything in our universe this way. You see, a drop of water is about sextillion H2O molecules. If you wash your hands, they definitely get wet – but the molecules themselves don’t. Yet, your hands are not dry now, so we can describe reality to be made up of many, many layers: atoms, molecules, cells, tissues, you, society, and so on.
When you stitch everything together, the rules of what’s possible in each ‘layer’ changes. Now, picture going up from the bottom of the ladder to a step where everything relevant to your life is layered. Your consciousness, your hopes and dreams – your fears – are all here. We don’t know why or how, but we know that you are right here, right now. And at this step, you pull the strings and make your own decisions, because you are just one more physical law of whatever happens in your brain.
And so, to conclude, if everything is following a chain of cause and effect, then there is no room for free will. At the end of the day, it’s impossible to know. And does knowing change reality on a practical level, or just one of those philosophical questions? We have no clue. Do we have free will, or are we puppets tied to the will of the universe? I’ll let you decide. But remember, if you and I feel like the decisions we make are entirely in our hands, maybe free will that feels free is good enough for us.
