Free Will

The human brain has been called a biological computer. By using the EEG (brain wave monitor) and rigorous tests, we now know that our behaviors begin in the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind makes a decision and presents that decision to our conscious mind in a way that gives us the illusion that we, through our conscious thought processes, arrived at that decision. This is an astonishing fact because it seems so real to us that we, using our conscious minds, are the originator of our behaviors and decisions. Nevertheless, repeated rigorous experiments have shown that is not the case.

Electronic computers (and machines that use them) don’t have free will. Computers are just machines that follow a series of instructions. If a worker instructs a computerized cutting machine to cut a square hole, and the machine “decides” to cut a round hole instead, then perhaps the cutting machine has awareness. But that never happens. The machine always does exactly what it is instructed to do; nothing more, nothing less.

The human brain is incredibly complex compared to human-designed computers. At any point in the operation of a computer, the CPU can be stopped and its internal registers examined. Knowing the contents of the registers, we can say with one hundred percent certainty what the CPU will do next. In other words, the computer’s operation is deterministic. The same cannot be said of the brain.

The brain is programmed in several ways. DNA determines the structure of the brain, epigenetics allows inheritable changes to gene expression, and experiences play a part. The brain is influenced by factors as simple as diet and activity. The brain is so complex and affected by so many different things that even if it were, in essence, deterministic, in practice there are too many unknown variables to allow a prediction of the brain’s response to any given set of stimuli with certainty.

For those who may say that if we don’t have free will then lawbreakers shouldn’t be punished – sorry but it’s not that simple. The possibility of punishment is one of many variables that the subconscious brain considers when deciding on an action.

Perhaps we do have free will, but repeated, careful experiments tell us that what we have is the illusion of free will. If we have only the illusion of free will, how does that change our perception of others? How does it change our perception of ourselves?