Free will - Will you ever be free?

As usual, I was scrolling through the video recommendations presented to me by YouTube algorithms. I stumbled upon this video called “Sam Harris on the illusion of free will”. Now I have known that guy for a while, I watched him destroy religious fundamentalists. But this was different, and it got me thinking “Do we really have free will?"

First off “what is free will?”  Google says “it’s the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one’s own discretion.” But does such a thing exist? Are we really the writers of our own fate? Are we the captain of our ship sailing across the oceans as we wish? Or are we canoeing in restless rivers going with the flow in the illusion that everything is under control? Are we controlling the world around us? Or is the world around controlling us? 

Let me ask you a simple question. Are you a dog person or a cat person? No coercion needed, you could be none or both (I like both!). But for the sake of simplicity let’s consider it to be a binary question. Let’s say you like dogs. Now, what could be the reasons for you to like dogs? It all depends on the preconceived notions you have about dogs. It depends on the past experiences you had, your previous encounters with the species. On the contrary, You might say”I just don’t know why, but I hate dogs.” It’s true that you might not be able to explain your behavior but that doesn’t mean there’s no objective reason for you to hate dogs. The thoughts are lined up subconsciously in your brain to act upon when we get into the situation.

Whenever you come across a new phenomenon your hippocampus stores it in your memory along with all the emotions you had towards the phenomenon(Don’t forget that emotions are nothing but the reflection of chemical conditions of your body). Each thought you have in the present and all your actions are a product of the present state of the universe. We are all influenced by something or the other in our vicinity and none of those conditions are created by us, and neither do we control our responses to these influences.

You go to a shop and let’s say that you buy a dress and you might think the dress you bought was through your free will. But the very fact that there were a limited number of varieties in the shop forces you to choose among what’s present there and again the reason for you to select a particular dress depends on the state of the universe, e.g.: the price tag, the sizes available, the marketing skills of the seller, your budget etc. these all factors come together and force you to come to a decision.

The fact that I came across that video was not under my control, neither was my response towards the video controlled by me. Now I could have concluded that it was a cosmic conspiracy that made me like that video and just to avoid that the egotistic me might start disagreeing with everything that’s there in the video. But this very thought of a cosmic conspiracy is again influencing me to disagree with his views which won’t be a controlled response either. The present state of the universe which includes my body and brain force me to react in a particular way and there is no free will involved in the process. 

The big companies know all about this. They have dedicated teams in the marketing section who study how people react to certain designs and how could they influence people to increase their profits. Their logos are carefully designed by experts to attract the masses. Although this has deep philosophical implications, it also explains people’s behavior to a large extent. More so, the argument that I want to convey is not only about these big companies but also about every choice that we make in the space-time continuum.

You are nothing but the books you read, the movies you watch, the people you meet etc.

“People buy things they don’t need, with money they don’t have, to impress people they don’t like” – Dave Ramsey. 

Don’t use this Argument to lose your moral (Certainly can be next topic).

Think about what made you click the link to this blog. Was it through your own will? I don’t think so, pal. Did you like this write-up? If No, Something has influenced you to not like this blog. You know you should get rid of that feeling.

Anyways, let me know your views in the comments.

-Ajet