Do you believe in free will?

[genkaus]

In fairness, that is EXACTLY why I defined the presuppositions before posing the question. It is not a loaded question because I defined the presuppositions and the logical (to me) conclusions.

The universe can only be changed in a limited number of ways.
1) Changing the current or past state of the universe in this instant we have paused.
2) Changing the fundamental laws of the universe that dictate how the universe progresses from one instant to another.

You ignored these statements in your answer. If these statements contain a logical or scientific fallacy, then the question is loaded. But I see no dismissal of this.

Read the argument again. These statements are not what cause your question to be loaded. Your explicitly given statements only refer to changing the current or past of the universe - which is determined. But in your argument, you talk about changing the future - which is not assumed to be determined.

Upon further reading, I think it bears greater clarification.

For future to be determined -
1. The past and current state must be determined (your point 1).
2. The fundamental laws should be able to determine the next instant - not just dictate how the next instant is determined. (Some amount of ambiguity in your second statement).

For example, consider this line of reasoning.

- The consequence of an action changes state of the universe from one instant to the next.
- The consequence of an action is not determined until the action is determined.
- Therefore, the future is not determined unless the action is determined.
- So, in order for future to be determined, the fundamental laws should be able to determine the action, not just how the action is determined.

If free will (as you conceptualize it) is one of the fundamental laws, then they would only be able to dictate how the next instant is determined (by the exercise of free-will) - not determine the next instant as well. Therefore, for these statements to conclude that the future is determined as well, you've already presumed that free-will is not a part of the natural law - thus making it a loaded question.