Free Will or Not?

Most people think we have “free will” and therefore can choose what we want. If we want to turn left, we turn left. If we want to hold our breath, we hold our breath. If we want a partner, we get that partner. You already understand that apparently there are limits to being able to get what we want. But what if I argue that we actually have very little wiggle room with this so-called “free will” of ours?

First, we have quite a few autonomous bodily functions that we have little to no influence over from our thinking. Some people can consciously regulate their heart rate, but in general we are at the mercy of our bodies. The digestive, hormonal, reproductive, heart and lungs organs know what needs to be done and ‘just’ do their job. There is no “free will” to skip a heartbeat.

Second, we have very little influence on what happens around us. The Earth is quite moving and has storms and floods, droughts and volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and plagues. In fact, we have no influence on nature when it shows its full force. The sun, wind and water can make and break man. A single space rock can cause all life on Earth to suddenly become extinct.

Third, man himself is also in flux as we struggle with peace, justice and integrity. Man is slow to develop into a sane and wise being, and until he does we make a mess of things. When primitive man digs up the hatchet, you have little choice but to surrender or fight as well. Even on a small scale in the family, fights can occur that you can do nothing about.

Talent

We are born with all sorts of traits and in some of them lies a talent. Being able to run well, having a natural feeling for languages or having excessive interest in human behavior can be innate talents. But there is no free will to be able to choose talent. The degree of your talent is also already fixed in your body. All you can do is develop your talent through practice and training.

Training is necessary for talent to mature, but in fact you can become comparatively little better than your talent has given you. You have a choice to train, but even that choice is limited. If you don’t feel like running hard, then you won’t train and you will never run a marathon. It takes more than talent and training. While we actually all have about the same equipment at our disposal, our bodies and minds.

Every person should be able to run a marathon, complete a university degree and develop a moral empathy. Some better than others because of more talent, but everyone because this too can be trained. This is where humans have free will and can use it to rise above themselves. The question then is whether our “free will” is not also a talent. Isn’t our Free Will also just innate? And can you also train that Free Will?

Consciousness

People who are addicted have a “free will” to remain addicted or stop their addiction. It does depend on the degree of their free will. Are they conscious and can they consciously choose? Consciousness is the basis of our free will, in fact the basis of all life. Consciousness transcends our stream of thoughts, emotions and unconscious fears and desires. But do you want to? And can you? Are you able to resist convenience and consensus?

In my view, human Free Will is needed primarily to be able to consciously choose to become more conscious. Turning left and holding your breath are of little relevance when it comes to consciousness. It is irrelevant to talk about free will to turn left, that is a non-discussion. If you want to get to the heart of our free will, it must be about consciousness. The essence of being human is consciousness and the conscious development of that consciousness.

We have Free Will, but in essence still use it very little. We behave like ants in a heap. We largely follow the order ordered by our queen and for the rest create chaos. Only when we learn to see the order and the chaos and consciously choose our own order without a queen can we leave our ant behavior behind and become human. The ant has no free will, but man has that potential.

By Nico Cost for GlobalSouth.co