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I find the idea of a complete free will to be absurd. How can we have total free will if we are bound by several laws? We have to follow several physical laws, and we also obbey all sorts of cognitive/mental laws. So what we think, or will, is always limited, therefore calling our behavior as 'free will' is misleading, to say the least. Even in the more simple aspects of daily life where we think we have choices, psychology has shown over and over again how many of our actions may seem consciously to be a choice but in fact have unconscious reasons of all kinds behind it. We are more slaves than we'd like to admit.

Now, without getting into the discussion of how choices are made and how this relates to physics, I want to introduce another idea that I dont think has yet been discussed: When people talk about free will, they either discuss that there is, or that there isnt, or something in between, but the discussion follows in a way that generalizes between all humans. What about levels of choice that differ between different people and between the same person at different times? How does this relate to awareness/consciousness levels?

I feel that the more one advances in inner development, the more awareness one gains, one has a greater 'will'. This is not to say one can think or will anything, freely. I feel we are always subject to influences of all kinds, whether its physical laws, psychological functions, natural flow of emotions and associative unfolding, external influences of all kinds, metabolic aspects, etc. Many of these factors pass completely unnoticed by us, which turns us into automatons, unconscious slaves of those influences. Yet when we develop ourselves more and more, we begin to be aware, to notice the influences, and therefore be able to make (limited) choices inside of these possible influences. So a free will is, in this line of thinking, not an absolute idea, not a natural gift that all humans have, but rather the acquired skill, developed through effort, to be aware and choose between the different influences around us that are most beneficial, according to our potentials and the context surrounding us.

I dont know if im making any sense or if im being able to express myself as I want to, but Ill leave it at that for now.

<blockquote data-quote="endlessness" data-source="post: 3355145" data-attributes="member: 535">I find the idea of a complete free will to be absurd. How can we have total free will if we are bound by several laws? We have to follow several physical laws, and we also obbey all sorts of cognitive/mental laws.&nbsp; So what we think, or will, is always limited, therefore calling our behavior as &#039;free will&#039; is misleading, to say the least. Even in the more simple aspects of daily life where we think we have choices, psychology has shown over and over again how many of our actions may seem consciously to be a choice but in fact have unconscious reasons of all kinds behind it. We are more slaves than we&#039;d like to admit.Now, without getting into the discussion of how choices are made and how this relates to physics, I want to introduce another idea that I dont think has yet been discussed:&nbsp; When people talk about free will, they either discuss that there is, or that there isnt, or something in between, but the discussion follows in a way that generalizes between all humans. What about levels of choice that differ between different people and between the same person at different times? How does this relate to awareness/consciousness levels?I feel that the more one advances in inner development, the more awareness one gains, one has a greater &#039;will&#039;. This is not to say one can think or will anything, freely. I feel we are always subject to influences of all kinds, whether its physical laws, psychological functions, natural flow of emotions and associative unfolding, external influences of all kinds, metabolic aspects, etc. Many of these factors pass completely unnoticed by us, which turns us into automatons, unconscious slaves of those influences. Yet when we develop ourselves more and more, we begin to be aware, to notice the influences, and therefore be able to make (limited) choices inside of these possible influences. So a free will is, in this line of thinking, not an absolute idea, not a natural gift that all humans have, but rather the acquired skill, developed through effort, to be aware and choose between the different influences around us that are most beneficial, according to our potentials and the context surrounding us.I dont know if im making any sense or if im being able to express myself as I want to, but Ill leave it at that for now.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="endlessness, post: 3355145, member: 535"] I find the idea of a complete free will to be absurd. How can we have total free will if we are bound by several laws? We have to follow several physical laws, and we also obbey all sorts of cognitive/mental laws. So what we think, or will, is always limited, therefore calling our behavior as 'free will' is misleading, to say the least. Even in the more simple aspects of daily life where we think we have choices, psychology has shown over and over again how many of our actions may seem consciously to be a choice but in fact have unconscious reasons of all kinds behind it. We are more slaves than we'd like to admit. Now, without getting into the discussion of how choices are made and how this relates to physics, I want to introduce another idea that I dont think has yet been discussed: When people talk about free will, they either discuss that there is, or that there isnt, or something in between, but the discussion follows in a way that generalizes between all humans. What about levels of choice that differ between different people and between the same person at different times? How does this relate to awareness/consciousness levels? I feel that the more one advances in inner development, the more awareness one gains, one has a greater 'will'. This is not to say one can think or will anything, freely. I feel we are always subject to influences of all kinds, whether its physical laws, psychological functions, natural flow of emotions and associative unfolding, external influences of all kinds, metabolic aspects, etc. Many of these factors pass completely unnoticed by us, which turns us into automatons, unconscious slaves of those influences. Yet when we develop ourselves more and more, we begin to be aware, to notice the influences, and therefore be able to make (limited) choices inside of these possible influences. So a free will is, in this line of thinking, not an absolute idea, not a natural gift that all humans have, but rather the acquired skill, developed through effort, to be aware and choose between the different influences around us that are most beneficial, according to our potentials and the context surrounding us. I dont know if im making any sense or if im being able to express myself as I want to, but Ill leave it at that for now. [/QUOTE]