Quote:So if we could rewind time, that is, go back in time, and re-start forward, then what happens after that would be exactly the same thing that happened the first time.   I say that because the identical circumstances would exist as before.   Lincoln would still get assassinated, WWII would still happen, you would still be born, you would still do whatever you did "the first time," you would meet the same people, you would marry the same person, and nothing would change, because all the exact same circumstances would exist.   And the exact same circumstances always produce the exact same result, right?  

 

And the ultimate conclusion we can draw is that the future is set in stone, and has been determined from the time of the big bang.  Because there is only one set of circumstances that exist right now, therefore, there is only one future that exists.   

 

But that all depends on the answer to the first post.   If everything is completely controlled and completely the same, will the result always be the same?    I think people will rebel against this line of reasoning because it implies that we don't really have free will.   If the exact same circumstances always produce the exact same result, then we will always make the exact same decisions and take the exact same actions.    Therefore free will is an illusion. 

 

Someone made a big soup and put a spoon in it and stirred it.   The vegetables all think they are swimming, but in reality, they are not.   They are just being forced along by the laws of nature. 

Have you been listening to a podcast called Hello Internet? Because they had a discussion on this very subject that included many of the same points you are making here. And then as well as now I much agree with the point of view you have here; free will is essentially an illusion caused by the fact we have not the mental capacity to understand the sheer vastness of the universe we live in. But I also believe that this is irrelevant to almost every thing we do.

 

The thought I had about this is about the holodeck from Star Trek. In Star Trek the holodeck is a perfect simulation of normal life right down to the dangers people face. It's even stated outright that if you turn the safety protocol off, holographic bullets are just as deadly as the real thing (Picard does this in First Contact). Now suppose I take you out of your normal life, stick you in a holodeck without you knowing about it and let you live there for the rest of your life. the simulation is perfect, but aside from yourself, it's completely fake. You eventually die in the simulation and I then I turn the whole thing off.

 

Of course this would have an impact on the people that know you, but for you, nothing would change. You'd never know about the simulation or the fact most of your life decisions were irrelevant. And it's the same with free will; the fact free will is an illusion is something we simply can not comprehend on an innate level because we have monkey brains that only very recently learned to do more than count to ten.

---