Free will

FREE WILL

The debate on “free will” has been going on for a long time. A conspicuous feature is the absence of an agreed definition of free will. Theistic believers posit that forces outside determine whether free will is exercised or not. Those who believe in “karma” rightly or wrongly imply that there is an element of pre-determination and physicalists are divided; some believe that free will definitely exists while others say that space-time is already there, stretching backwards and forwards so that everything has already happened and that the “future” and the “past” are relative to the point which you chose to occupy, in which case, free will is an illusion (or delusion!).

In a simplistic life-centred view, it is the ability to make a decision “feely” and then articulate it without prejudice. It is the ability to make a choice when given several options. When this is considered in the context of prevailing circumstances at the time of making this choice, other factors, such as the time period of existence, systems of governance, social norms etc., have to be considered. One might argue that free will can never be fully realised as each person is a victim of time and place, and social norms: nobody can exercise their “free will” to kill another person! (But he did because he knew of the repercussions !) Or go through red traffic lights. One can see how choice, freedom, ethics, religion, and social context all play a part in our decision-making process..

I am going to forget these for a moment and just consider whether, regardless of consequences, you are able to make choices and decisions of your own, assuming that it is possible to do so solely on your considerations and decisions.

What I see is that human thinking is a complex process. At any one time, at least three things operate. Firstly, the present moment in time (which, by the way, is constantly changing and in reality, it is impossible to have a meaningful present “moment”- moments: - maybe). Secondly, the inevitable flow of relevant memories, coming from past stored experiences (both yours and those of human history accessible to you through information sources), and thirdly, thought or projected thoughts on the anticipated future. For example, suppose I am choosing chocolate in preference to vanilla. In that case, the first influence is the need to decide now (the present moment), the second is to draw on my previous experience and that of others on the pros and cons of the choice of flavour and thirdly, the anticipated future, which can be a host of things and not just the pleasure you get from tasting it. For example, by my choice of chocolate, would I cause sadness in a loved one who was eagerly anticipating that you would choose vanilla. The point is whether, after considering all these, you are “free” to make your own choice.

But here is the snag. Some of these considerations from the past and/or from the future are not conscious ones. Taking a broader view, we are constantly influenced by our genes (nature), our upbringing (nurture) and our culture. We can never be totally FREE from that point of view. That is why Libet’s work does not surprise me at all. The background processing which goes on when we are asked to make a choice happen long before we come up with the choice. These make your “decide” , just as you decide without obvious awareness when we drive a car through traffic. Furthermore, all his subjects have been pre-warned or prepared for this exercise, and hence the results are prejudiced. It is also possible that the precise moment when we apparently make a choice by an indication to the operator cannot be captured by the methods used.

In summary, I believe that free will is a relative term. None of us can be immune from influences such as genes, nurture and culture. It is always a matter of degree and to me, it is not bimodal or bipolar; it is a spectrum, with the constraint that all of us are trapped by our genes and culture. Just to complicate matters further, we can also muddy the waters by contesting whether a sentient being has a “self” that has free will or whether “we” are just a continuously changing series of “events” or “processes” in which case where is this “free will” located!