\u201cWhen asked about Free Will, I always give the same response, \u201cOf course we do; I had no choice.\u201d Christopher Hitchens gave this response at a Christian Book Expo Panel and while I think it was a funny response and that Hitchens had a great point within that context, I don\u2019t think we actually have \u201cFree Will.\u201d<\/p>\n
After saying that, Christians often tell me that if I don\u2019t believe in Free Will, than I must believe that we have no choices. This of course is a false dichotomy. My claim isn\u2019t that we don\u2019t have choices, but rather that our choices are not \u201cfreely determined.\u201d Instead, our choices are determined by a complex set of variables which play out in our nature and our nurture. Nature represents all our genetic variables and Nurture represents all the environmental factors (most of which we are not even aware of).<\/p>\n
Even in infancy, where one might think that actions are determined on Nature alone I still think that there is plenty of Nurture going on in the womb and in the infant\u2019s environment. Nature only refers to genetics. The nutrients are considered Nurture.<\/p>\n
The complex interplay between these two factors is the determining characteristics of all of our actions and choices. The thing is that we don\u2019t know how that interplay will play out so we have the appearance of Free Will. Now here is the catch, we can still make choices. We can still weigh the option and choose what path to take in life. Regardless of which path we choose, it was a choice that was determined by our Nature and our Nurture. In this model, \u201cdetermined\u201d isn\u2019t a predictor of action because of the complexity of the interplay of our two determining forces. Here \u201cdetermined\u201d is more of a justification for our choices.<\/p>\n
Here is an example: I am walking down a hall that I am familiar with. I know that there is an intersection ahead and that both paths will lead me to my destination. Which path do I choose? My mind works very quickly. Quicker that I even realize and calculates things that I am not even consciously aware of. I choose right. To a Christian who believes in Free Will, that choice is a free choice. But to a rational, thinking, person who is aware of modern psychology, that choice was a determined choice. Why did I go right is the question?<\/p>\n
A Christian believing in Free Will would claim that such a choice is a random decision made by the choice maker. They might claim that it is a free choice with no baggage or attachment to it. But the fact is that even if we don\u2019t know what determined that choice, it was still a determined choice. If I would have gone left, that too would have been the determined choice. I might have been as simple as the fact that I am genetically right handed and that is why I went right. It could have been because a saw a cute girl down the right path a few weeks ago and subconsciously I hope she might be there again. Maybe subconsciously I am trying to avoid someone I saw down the left path weeks earlier. It could even be a subconscious complex calculation based on multiple factors. Or perhaps it isn\u2019t subconscious at all.<\/p>\n
The point here is that \u201cFree Will\u201d is a myth just like the God who is alleged to have given it to us. Only people who choose not to educate themselves and to focus on a short-sighted view on behavior are believers in Free Will. And even though their choice to remain ignorant was a determined choice, they still have a choice to weigh the Nurture of education against the Nurture or their indoctrination. They can still choose to be educated.<\/p>\n