Quote:DF is correct.  And if you think you have free will, there is no difference between if you do or don't.

 

I think this ^ is a very important point.   Even if we think there is only one possible future, and it is inevitable, and even if we believe that free will is an illusion, what does that mean for us in terms of how we act?   We can't just lie down in a field of flowers and "let things happen."   Even if we believe in predestination, and that our fate is sealed from the time of the big bang, I don't see how that belief can change our behavior at all.   We still have to act as if we have free will.   Because even if we believe in predestination, then is it not also predestined that we struggle, that we make choices (even if those choices are predestined)?   We still struggle to achieve, we still struggle to survive, because those struggles are predestined.  

 

So what have I achieved with this line of reasoning, that free will is an illusion?   Anything?    I've thought about this theory for a while, and so far, all it is is an interesting thought.   It doesn't contradict any religion, It doesn't change any behavior, so what does it all mean? 

 

I explained all this to my wife, and she asked me, so if everything is predestined, and all our thoughts and actions are set from the time of the big bang, and free will is an illusion, does this mean Hitler is not to blame for killing all those people?  After all, his free will would be an illusion, too.   Hitler was simply acting according to the laws of nature and his existence and his actions were created at the time of the big bang.   Right?  If I had no free will, then Hitler had no free will, either, right?  

 

The only response I can come up with is that while theoretically, things are inevitable, and free will is an illusion, we still have to hold people responsible for their actions, because the very act of holding people responsible is part of our survival instinct and holding people responsible is an act that is also predestined from the time of the big bang.  

 

So what is the ultimate meaning of all this thought?   Nothing?   So far, just an interesting thought. 

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