Free will: an
illusion?
Yesterday I read an
article in the Scientific American that provoked a lot of thought for
me. It struck at some of the questions I have been asking myself
recently. The article was called Why We Have Free Will, by a Dr.
Nahmias, a professor in philosophy and neuroscience at Georgia State
University. His article argues for the existance of free will, and
includes his refutations of a growing number of his peers' claims
that “conscious decision and deliberation happen only after neural
gears below the level of our conscious awareness have already
determined what we will choose,” or, in other words, our brains
make us do it.
Pervasive in
scientific thought is the idea that we are merely biochemical
puppets.
While the cited
studies and scientists Nahmias refuted were clearly full of logical
fallacies, the idea itself was something that lodged in my mind and
stayed like a piece of grit in the eye. Is free will an illusion?
I work about 10
hours every week with an individual who has Williams syndrome, a
genetic disorder with very specific physical and psychological
manifestations. While we were together one day, I read a list of
Williams syndrome symptoms and discovered that my client's
personality and behavior matched every last one of those symptoms to
a T. Most of the rest of his ideas and beliefs that couldn't be
relegated to Williams Syndrome I could see arising from his
environment and upbringing. It was rather shattering to my
preconceived notions, especially in regards to agency; previously I'd
always believed we were more or less a blank slate on which we had
the power to write anything we wanted.
So it brought to my
mind this question: if he is that determined by his nature/nurture,
just how much am I determined by my own nature/nurture? How much is
the whole of humanity determined by their nature/nurture?
This was a
disturbing question to ponder. I realized that in a lot of ways my
emotional and psychological makeup, and by extension my behaviors,
habits and overall lifestyle, have been determined by outside
factors. I look at my predispositions, from my homosexuality to my
talents with music and writing, and realize that I can't claim much
in regards to them. I never chose any of these gifts. They came
without my volition. I did not choose where I was born, and to whom.
(By I, I refer to my embodied self that currently knows; my
pre-existant self may have had some direct choice in the matter, but
I don't remember and there's no doctrinal claim to such a concept, so
for all intents and purposes it does not matter.) I don't recall
waking up and claiming for myself much, if any of the factors and
circumstances I currently find myself in.
So...what is free
will, then? Where does agency end and fate begin?
LDS.org defines
agency as “the gift to choose for ourselves.[1]” I didn't even
choose to gain agency, it was given to me, as was basically the rest
of my life's circumstances as presently constituted. I discern a
paradox. If I have been given the gift to choose for myself, then
what did/do I choose? There is so much I cannot choose; there is so
much that is outside my will. If my will were truly free, then that
means I can claim whatever I want to claim and influence anything I
desire to influence; that, logically, is the nature of “Free”
will, no? (Free will, meaning do anything I want to do.)
I can't just “do”
anything I want to do. I can't circumvent the law of gravity simply
because I will it. I can't operate antagonistic to the law without
drawing consequences; if I jump off a cliff expecting my will alone
to carry me, I will die or seriously injure myself. There is so, so
much in this universe that is determined and that I cannot choose.
Then doesn't that
mean “free will” is an illusion?
Infinite and
Eternal
I
think that the answer lies in knowing somewhat the nature of God and
our relationship to Him, as described by true doctrines.
Numerous
scriptures (Alma
34:14, Psalms 147:5, D&C 20:17 and 28, and Moroni 8:3,
for examples) describe
Deity as “infinite,”
or “eternal.” These words are also used to describe, as in John
6:68, Christ's
reward to
the faithful: “eternal” life.
Interestingly,
Christ, in one of His
prayers, refers to life eternal as “knowing Thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. [2]”
Knowing means, to me, means to be intimately acquainted with, learned
about, and in continual communication with.
In
other scriptures, Christ promises
His followers that if they abide in His word, “ye
shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.[3]”
There
it is in scripture: by following Christ we know the
infinite and eternal God.
By following Christ we are set free. Knowing
God is being set free.
"Free" will....
We
are offspring of God
Church doctrine
states that we are the literal offspring of God, made in His image,
and being the offspring of God have the capacity to become like Him.
Not only will following Christ lead us to God and to know Him, it
will make us like Him, as stated in Romans 8:16-17: “...Heirs of
God, and joint-heirs of Christ, if it so be that we suffer with
Him..”
Because He is
infinite, and we are His literal offspring; and because the offspring
of something has the capacity to become like It. By accepting Life
Eternal and knowing God, we are set free; in other words, we become
“infinite and eternal.”
Because of this, in my mind, a
possibly more appropriate term for “free” will, is “infinite”
will, or “eternal” will.
Infinite Beings in a finite sphere: the paradox of man.
Joseph Smith taught that we are “Co-equal (co-eternal) with God
himself [4].” Truly, as Stephen Chbosky's character from Perks
of Being a Wallflower states in
a moment where his reflections reveal it to him: “I swear we were
infinite.” It is true. We were infinite. We are infinite. We always will be infinite. We existed for an eternity; the core of our
beings is infinite. It existed for an eternity before this life and
will exist for an eternity afterwards'
.
And
if we accept Christ, then we accept Infinite and Eternal, and become
as infinite as they are: completely and entirely untrammeled in our sphere of agency.
And yet, here we are, in a mortal
sphere; and by mortal I mean finite. We are extremely limited in our
capacities and abilities as mortal beings.
What does that limitation consist
of? Oh, genetics, environmental factors, cultural blockages....our
minds are bound down by sin and error, our bodies riddled by disease.
Do we currently have free will? Infinite
will? Eternal will? Uh, I don't think so. Not so
fast, Hubris.
So, does this mean that free will is an illusion, then?
It's
not a current
reality....
As the Lord states, He has sent us
here in part “that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my
law, or no [5].” In other words, He has put us in a life where we are weak,
finite and mortal, to help us understand how to use our
agency so that we may one day live the infinite life He lives, as outlined by His laws.
...but
a goal we are reaching
for.
This is my personal opinion, but I
believe we are limited because this life is a trial run. It is a
training ground. We are bound to this mortality with limited agency,
to train prepare us for free agency,
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory wherein
we have infinitely increased capacities and abilities in comparison
with our current state.
And
at the end of it all, if we successfully complete our training and
learn how to choose well within the limitations we currently
experience, then God will say to us, “Well done, good
and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I
will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy
lord [6].”
In conclusion, in this life we do not experience free agency. There
is so much that abrogates its use that to call it this is quite fallacious. Herein is the limitation of mankind
in opposition to his eternal nature.
But because of our natures and our relationship with God, though we are currently limited, we will
one day have the capacity to become like Him; Infinite and Eternal.
Free agency is not a current gift we have; but it is something we have the capability of developing.
So,
then, if it is true that there is much more in this life that is
determined by outside factors than isn't....then what can we now
choose? And what would the process of developing agency look like?
2: John 17:3
3: John 8:32
5: Exodus 16:4
6: Matthew 25:23
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