YOU ARE NOT FREE... CHOICE IS AN ILLUSION

I don't know whether this is the right place to post this thread and i dunno if its already been discussed. A search feature on ATS would've been very useful.

Does man posess free will? Or are his actions, thoughts, decisions and choices already predetermined?

What does it mean to have free will? How can a person's decision be his/her own? After all, one makes a choice after a thought process which is influenced by his previous experiences, upbringing, genetic constitution, surroundins, present circumstance, etc. Are'nt these factors beyond his control? Even if after the thought process, u say that his/her decision is ultmately his/hers, what is that final influence that 'causes' the decision? Isn't such an influence beyond control of the individual?

Please comment

Whoops! Sorry Mr. Crowne... saw your thread bout non-conspiracy threads only after i posted mine!!

Well if u look at it one way, u could say that the free will issue IS a conspiracy... couldn't you? Gulp

But there is a search feature...

Look for the sixth button, it's the one with binoculars on it.

now how did i miss that???

anyways, any takers on this subject???

P. S., there are quite a few posts with 'free will' in the subject line.

Do the search, check out the threads, your answers may be there.....

I added the tag of "free will" to this thread, which can be seen at the bottom of the page. Clicking on "free will" will take you to a list of threads with the same or similar tags.

I should have thought of that!