Free
Will vs. Predetermination
Take
a second right now to do a simple experiment: Raise your hand
and then lower it back down. The question is a very simple one.
Were you free to choose your response to that request? Or was
it predetermined? The answer is not so simple.
Some
advocates of the predetermination viewpoint compare life and existence
to a pool table. Every ball is moving with a particular velocity
and spin. The elasticity of the cushions and friction of the felt
can be calculated. With a properly programmed computer, you can
determine exactly where every ball on the table will come to rest.
It's all predetermined. Predeterminists say the entire universe
is like one, huge pool table. Given a large enough computer, one
could calculate and predetermine the future sequence of any and
every event. Even your thoughts and emotions are events predetermined
by the same classical laws of physics. In the simple experiment
above, whether or not you lifted your hand was also predetermined.
In
Eastern philosophy, the predetermined nature of life is sometimes
referred to as the law of karma. Whatever happens is considered
to be predetermined. There is no freedom. According to the predeterminists,
the fact that you may feel free is irrelevant. How you feel has
nothing to do with what actually is. Your feelings, like anything
else in nature, are predetermined.
From
the classical perspective of physics, predetermination seems to
be a certainty. But modern physics introduces a degree of uncertainty
with respect to the sequence of events. The universe is built
up of subatomic particles. The study of their behavior is called
quantum mechanics. All of existence is nothing more than a summation
of the behavior of subatomic particles. The question of predetermination
versus free will then boils down to the study of the random behavior
of subatomic particles. As Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle
explains, there's a certain randomness or undetermined behavior
to the subatomic particles. Einstein felt that the behavior of
subatomic particles was, in fact, not random as expressed by his
famous, "God didn't play dice with the universe."
If
the apparent randomness of the Uncertainty Principle is in actuality
negotiable, that is to say if we have some influence or control
over it, we could have free will. Many scientists today theorize
the mind is in essence a quantum mechanical machine. If the mind
can affect the apparent random nature of subatomic particles,
then there is such a thing as free will. However, even in such
a case, it would be more accurate to say that we are free only
to the degree to which we function from that quantum mechanical
level of our mind. If left to function on more superficial levels,
the brain and psyche still succumb to predetermination through
the same classical laws of physics that govern the movement of
the balls on a pool table as discussed above. The degree to which
a particular individual is truly free is in direct proportion
to the degree to which they are functioning from the quantum mechanical
level of their mind. Ascertaining how free you actually are is
not an easy thing to do. You cannot just choose to be free. Freedom
is a state of physiology. It's not an attitude or belief system
that you can simply decide to adopt.
There
is an additional consideration that sheds even greater light on
the topic. The subject of time. From a quantum mechanical perspective,
time itself is, relatively speaking, superficial. Modern physics
tell us that on the deepest levels of existence, time does, in
fact, not exist. There is no sequence of events. There is only
simultaneity of all that is. Simultaneity is like a deck of cards
spread out over the face of the illusion of time. Time is an expression
of that which lies beyond the grasp of time. It is essential to
understand that from this deepest perspective, the question of
free will versus predetermination ceases to exist. They become
one and the same thing. In other words, if ultimately there is
no time, then there is no sequentiality. There is, then, no difference
between free will and predetermination. The reason we have found
the question of free will versus predetermination unfathomable
is simply because we have attempted to fathom a quantum mechanical
question from a non-quantum mechanical perspective.
Practically
speaking, what does all of this mean? How does it affect our every
day life and the "real" world in which we live? Most
of what happens is, in fact, predetermined. In other words, most
of our thoughts, feelings, and reactions are conditioned, or in
other words, programmed. However, it's reasonable to believe that
every individual has at least some degree of free will. In other
words, to some degree their consciousness functions from the quantum
mechanical level of their mind. It is interesting to note that
many modern physicists believe that the underlying basis of all
existence is, in fact, consciousness itself. It is the level where
the non-predetermined mechanic of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle
is lively. The degree to which you are able to function from that
level is the degree to which you are truly free. And that is not
an attitude or philosophy, but is a physiological state that can
potentially be cultivated.
Some
philosophers and theologians refer to this as a state of oneness
with God. They argue that at this level, your individual will
and God's will become one. You become infinitely free. More often
than not, spiritual emotionalism, semantics, and connotations
confuse the issue, subjecting one to the prevalence of dogma-even
more conditioned programming. Rationality then becomes subjugated
to dogmatic convictions. At that point, any discussion of the
subject ceases to be based in clear thinking. However, if we can
integrate the emotional aspects of ourselves with the rational,
we can take great steps forward in our understanding of life.
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