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.
© Michael Mamas, 12/04 |
