Free Will And Life’s Path

Since my last blog was on our destiny I thought that a logical progression might be to next discuss the topic of free will. It seems to come up quite a bit and is the excuse for people doing things that others thought they should have known better rather than to do. If your friend jumps off of a bridge would you do the same thing? Of course not, you have free will. What I want to propose to you here is that you don’t quite have free will like we think.

In the example I just mentioned where a friend of yours does something that may not be too bright like jump off of a bridge it appears that you have the ability to make a rational decision to not go along with him. The decision is very clear in that you have absolutely no desire to go along with this person. Now, let’s look at another example of a potential decision. In the case of dating, you may find someone attractive and want to start a relationship. What would be the difference in the two examples of decisions?

The first case is subtle and the second a little more obvious as to my point. Throughout your life you will notice that you have inherent preferences. You may have a favorite color, you might like certain foods over others, you might like a particular style of dressing and so on. Would you say that this is a choice that you make? As you progress through life you will also observe that you have a development in your personality as a result of these inherent preferences. You may be very extroverted so you would have a style to reflect this by wearing bright colors and trendy clothes so that others can see that you’re fashionable. In the reverse you may be introverted and spend a lot of time by yourself in which case you might wear more plain clothes as you are not as concerned with what people might think. These choices that you are making appear to be your conscious decision and an expression of yourself but they are a result of your inherent preferences.

Looking back at the first example I gave of the friend of yours making a dumb decision to do something and you not following him is based on your inherent preferences. The choice is in no way objective to the situation. If your friend wants to bungee jump off of a cliff you might go along with him if you’re also into that sort of thing and the reverse. The second example is a clearer example in that you have no control over what you like and who you might find attractive. Your attraction to someone might be a physiological result or you could find the individual’s personality attractive and therefore compatible with your own. Attraction is not a choice, it is inherent.

More precisely we have a freedom of choice rather than free will. Our life’s path is lead by our inherent preferences and we make decisions based on their pull. If we did in fact have free will we would be making decisions objectively which we clearly do not.

Once again I hope you enjoyed the blog and it got you thinking. If you think that others might like it as well why not resteem it so that they can enjoy it was well.