How free is our free-will?
by Harvey McMahon, Jubilee Centre:
Free-will is fundamental to our sense of wellbeing, and underwrites our sense of morality, our judicial system and the Judeo-Christian faith. However, science has provided evidence that free-will may be an illusion. In this paper I explore how the brain functions as the seat of our individual free-will and how we are also part of a collective-will expressed by cultural or religious groupings. In both cases free-will is an emergent property where decisions are expressed creatively rather than simply responsively. Yet we may not be as free as we like to think, but within boundaries shaped by our individual histories, our genetics and our environment we can make decisions that determine our character, relationships and future.
Introduction
Freedom is paradoxical
Choice is characteristic of our culture. We want to chart our own paths through life and so we value freedom to choose, but our choices appear to limit our freedom. If we choose to marry, we at once limit the relationships we will have with others, though paradoxically we open up new freedoms that come, for example, from being settled in our choice. This principle applies to all our choices: what we freely choose today changes the future possibilities. Thus freedom is not unconstrained choice, for with each choice we limit our freedom, and in so doing shape our environment and ourselves.
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