Free will?

[bennyboy]

I define free will as follows: The ability to act in a way that is inconsistent with one's life experiences and/or genetic dispositions. Defined this way, i don't see how free will can even exist. So, i agree with you that free will is not a factor in decision making. I just dont agree with the reasoning

Your definition is goofy. Of course nobody would act against their own nature. Even if you develop the ability to fast when you're hungry or whatever, that is STILL consistent with your experiences and/or genetic predispositions.

But what if you have many courses of action available which are in accordance with your nature? What if you're on holiday, for example, and you wake up and say, "Hmmmm, what should I do today?" You are definitely going to follow your nature, and you definitely have free will. The question is whether this is "actual" free will or just a word for a symbolic abstraction of deterministic behavior.

The problem is, EVERYTHING about humanity happens on an abstracted layer of "reality." Your mother is "really" a collection of chemicals interacting in deterministic ways. But MOMMY is a myth-- a symbolic embodiment of compassion, kindness. . . practically of providence. Love is "really" a hormonal cascade, determined by the genetic chances of evolution interacting with your experiences. But LOVE is the feeling of walking on clouds, of finding that other half of the jigsaw puzzle that will fill the holes in your life.

So if you are going to count out free-will, you have to count out all the other abstractions, too, or be inconsistent. Remind yourself that Mom is just Mom because that's what female animals are like, and that your love isn't really anything special, because it's ingrained into all humns. OR you can realize that we are abstract beings living in an abstract world, and that there's a disconnect between the reality of being human and the reality of physical determinism.