Do we have freewill?

[Mai72]

Just a simple question. Do humans have freewill? If we replayed the past would everything line up exactly the same way, or can we change it? Can we change our destiny thru awareness?

Christians will say that god gives us freewill, and that we are given choices. Are we really given a choice though? Look at religion. The main factor in determining your religion is your DOB, and zip code. An Indian born in India will be a Hindu. An Aztec born during the height of the Aztec empire would had been worshipping the sun. A Lakota Sioux born on the plains of North America would had been worshipping spirits, and the great buffalo. My point is these people did not have free will. Is freewill an illusion?

 

[shortylickens]

No but I have Freebird.

 

[Ajay]

What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

 

[BudAshes]

No but I have Freebird.

I got a free bird for you right here:
( ︶︿︶)_╭∩╮

 

[allisolm]

What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

African or European?

 

[IronWing]

Huh? I, I don't know that.

 

[Mai72]

No but I have Freebird.

Wait. is this Lynard Skynard? Is this song about freewill?

 

[nakedfrog]

I do, but you don't. Sorry about your luck there, pal.

 

[nakedfrog]

Wait. is this Lynard Skynard? Is this song about freewill?

Nah, that's Rush.

 

[highland145]

Nah, that's Rush.

Thought that was Tom Petty.

 

[IronWing]

Wait. is this Lynard Skynard? Is this song about freewill?

Freebird has no will, free or otherwise.

 

[Mai72]

Freebird has no will, free or otherwise.

Ah, true.

 

[shortylickens]

Thought that was Tom Petty.

No thats Free Ballin.

 

[Captante]

No thats Free Ballin.

Free falling?

 

[pmv]

The grounds for doubt about 'free will' surely has to be based on those experiments that claimed to show your neurons fire to make a decision before you are consciously aware of doing so. But I vaguely remember hearing somewhere recently that someone found a flaw in those experiments.

Googling turned up this, but I'm sure I've read something contesting the idea since 2008.

Brain Scanners Can See Your Decisions Before You Make Them

This schematic shows the brain regions (green) from which the outcome of a participant's decision can be predicted before it is made. Courtesy John-Dylan Haynes. You may think you decided to read this story — but in fact, your brain made the decision long before you knew about it. In a study...

www.wired.com

But the OP seems to be talking about something less fundamental than 'how can we have free will in a physically deterministic universe'. Just about the weird logic of religions that say we have to choose to 'hear the message' and be 'saved' but then the message only got sent to particular regions of the world at a time when people in other regions had no chance at all of hearing it. I think that's a slightly different question, no?

However, I misread the title as "do we have firewall?" and felt a pang of anxiety before I confirmed mine was still running.

 

[brianmanahan]

Christians will say that god gives us freewill, and that we are given choices

not the calvinists

and the real hardcore ones say that if you think there's freewill then you're going to hell

 

[SKORPI0]

This June 2016 articles says "NO".

There’s No Such Thing as Free Will

But we all may be better off believing in it anyway.

www.theatlantic.com

 

[BoomerD]

I think we have the illusion of free will. The Matrix planners set it up that way so we wouldn't realize we're all just slaves.

 

[Ajay]

This June 2016 articles says "NO".

There’s No Such Thing as Free Will

But we all may be better off believing in it anyway.

www.theatlantic.com

So, interestingly enough, I read that same article and came away with a different thought. It's apparent that we don't know the answer. Or, better yet, that article does a terrible job at explaining what is a very complex set of questions because it is too short and too poorly sourced.

 

[sdifox]

I know I can free my willy and that is good enough for me.

 

[Ajay]

I know I can free my willy and that is good enough for me.

That sounds like a bad thing. I prefer mine attached.

 

[brianmanahan]

I know I can free my willy and that is good enough for me.

 

[soulcougher73]

My guess is that since we can even question if we have free will, means that we have free will. But what do i know.

 

[zinfamous]

Nah, that's Rush.

I came in here to tell OP that he should ask Geddy Lee.

 

[sdifox]

That sounds like a bad thing. I prefer mine attached.

Call me Inspector Gadget.