do we have a freewill?

[katia]

do you think mankind has a freewill? is everything predefined or do we have the chance to control our life and this world?

what if we have a freewill? what makes it a freewill? isn't everything based on physics and chemical reactions? aren't we controlled by electric impulses?

what if we don't have a freewill? is it worth to do something, why not just sit back and wait because everything comes as it has to come? but isn't this sitting back predefined either?

feeling philosophical tonight too. 

[Jeannette]

Personally, I like to think that we do have freedom of choise, but on the other hand there are things I believe to be predefined as well. I suppose the best way of saying what my standpoint of the whole freewill question is, is that the universe presents us with said number of predefined lives (x) and the choises we make in our lives by employing free will (y) determine which eventual outcomes of our lives (z) are more likely than others. I suppose you could link it to the matematical computation of odds. xCy = z. I guess then that life is all a question of math really. All about how you pick the numbers to get the "right" answer. This is just my opinion on the question, (it is a philosophical question and we'll only ever know the answer after we die, if then) so this is as close to an answer as I can give. Hope it is useful to you.

[Cindi Jones]

Nothing is predefined.... especially when it comes to something as complicated as a person.  I do know that if you just give up and sit down for the rest of your life, you will get fat!  See?  You can have some logical predictions but that can help us.  We know that if we do this, that will happen.  We always have choices.  Sometimes they are crappy choices but we will always have choices.

Cindi

[Melissa]

So you want to be philosophical, huh? >  Then answer this: If you have set of choices presented before you and you decide on a particular choice, is that really free will if all choices would have led to the same outcome?  > > >  Furthermore, don't ALL choices ultimately lead to death?

[tinkerbell]

....and I'd imagine that you want me to be terribly honest, correct?  Okay, then, I will give you my opinion.

If you ask this question to someone who is a Christian, they will almost always give you the same answer "yes, we do because God gave us free will".
I do believe, however, that we are conditioned, and our actions are not free will but self-control.  I think that we do make our own choices, but they are governed by our beliefs and what we learn as we travel through life.

tink

[RebeccaFog]

You're all WRONG!!!!!!! 

I'm just kidding. I'm pretending to start a fight over a simple and reasonable question.
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   I think we have free Will, but within the boundaries that Katia mentioned like physics and stuff.  Everything has boundaries and we have the free will to try and cross those boundaries or to try and make the most of what we have within the boundaries.
   I have no judgment over those who break boundaries or those who stay within them.  Just my thoughts.

[Laurry]

Do we have a free will?  Of course we do...it's predestined!

The question of free will is a red herring.  While we are alive, we will never know if we have free will or not.  The real question is, do we believe we have free will?  For most, the answer is yes...that our future is dependent on the choices we make.

The very thought of our lives being predestined, or pre-determined, is actually pretty depressing.

Reminds me of a discussion on the same topic at church when I was young...the answer that was given was that yes, we do have free will, but God already knows how it will turn out.  Sounded good at the time (kinda like Univeral Health Care) but after reflection, there wasn't much to hang your faith on.

.....Laurie

[Melissa]

I don't think we have complete free will, nor are our lives predetermined.  I believe we are given a set of choices based on interactions and circumstances in our lives.  We can react on those circumstances or be proactive and work to alter the circumstances, but it's closer to being free will.  It's just that the boundaries in which we have a set of choices are constantly changing and many of the factors that define those changing boundaries are out of our control, thus we don't have complete freewill.  However, within those boundaries,n we do have free will.  It's just a matter of whether those choices lead to the same consequences or whether they really do affect factors that determine future boundaries.

A good example is a TS that has strong dysphoria and has many choices to try to get out, but then transitions in the end.  The outcomes was the same regardless of the choices they made in regards to arriving at that particular outcome.

[David W. Shelton]

My thought has always been:

Destiny is an option.

I think we do have some kind of destiny, but we also have the freedom to choose that destiny. It's a strange dynamic, but I think there's some truth to it.

[The Middle Way]

I donno.

I do have a freewheel on my bike.

tmw

[Pica Pica]

I had three wheels on my trike

[Lisbeth]

do you think mankind has a freewill?

Not if the advertising industry has anything to say about it.

[RebeccaFog]

Come to think of it, I did have free Will once upon a tasty time.



                                                              But then I got into a committed relationship   



And now I simply yearn to be committed 

[Pica Pica]

Not institutionalised?

[RebeccaFog]

Not institutionalised?

    Right. I meant institutionalized. Committed into an institution and given a ball of yarn to play with and fingerpaints too.

[Pica Pica]

always half liked the idea of that, though one of my biggest wishes is to be treated like a toddler - i guess i just can;t be arsed to do nowt for myself.

[The Middle Way]

well, if you're rating institutionalization at all, it's overrated.

Trust me on this one.

tmw

[Pica Pica]

well, if you're rating institutionalization at all, it's overrated.

Trust me on this one.

tmw

Not really, just playing pretend. Most things are nicer in pretend.

[Kate]

In my experience, I can only choose to struggle against my destiny - or to acquiesce to it.

I've chosen the latter

~Kate~

[Melissa]

In my experience, I can only choose to struggle against my destiny - or to acquiesce to it.

I've chosen the latter

~Kate~

Temet Nosce.   And that illustrates my point.  You use freewill to choose your destiny.  It's all a matter of knowing who you are.  Once you know that and stop fighting, you have more freedom with your destiny.