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28
51
Yes No
Debate Score:79
Arguments:52
Total Votes:87
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 Yes (23)
 
 No (29)

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TheThinker(1697) pic



Can We Prove That We Have Free Will? Do we have Free Will?

No. It just doesn't make sense to me that we can prove that we have free will. Yes i can do anything i want and feel that i have free will. But who is to say that im not destined to create these debates or these such words.

Edit.

I feel like this debate is going towards the question: Do we have free will? Which i also approve. So basically from now on, you can answer both questions or you can say what you think.

Yes

Side Score: 28
VS.

No

Side Score: 51
2 points

Yes we have free will on what religon to choose and no one will say anything against it. You have the free will to own your own house and to live off the land and plant your own seeds. You have free will to buy whatever you want in the stores. You have free will to do what is good in this world.

Side: yes
TheThinker(1697) Disputed
2 points

I understand what you said but....

Who says that what we do isn't already pre determined?

We choose religion. And we might change our religion the next day. We view that as free will because it feels like it is free will. However, how do we actually know if what we do is already pre destined or determined.

This debate really is questioning mine your destiny. Or mind destiny. Or other's destiny.

Side: No
TheThinker(1697) Disputed
1 point

This debate really is questioning your destiny. Or mine destiny. Or other's destiny.

I hate to make typo mistakes.

Side: yes
iamdavidh(4856) Disputed
2 points

Yes we have free will on what religion to choose and no one will say anything against it.

People say things against the religions people choose constantly. In fact it is one of the things most often "said something against."

You have the free will to own your own house and to live off the land and plant your own seeds.

Not it you can't afford a house, or live on land that won't support crops, or are paralyzed from the neck down.

You have free will to buy whatever you want in the stores.

Again, not if you don't have money.

You have free will to do what is good in this world.

Again, it depends on circumstance.

Only mentioning all of this because I find it fascinating that to prove something deep and philosophical you use such easily disproven material examples.

Side: No

Of course we have free will. We decide what our actions will be, we determine what comes out of our mouths. As a Christian I believe that God allows us free will. He of course is the creator but stepped back...to allow us to live and to decide our fates.

If you don't think we have free will and are controlled...then obviously you believe in a higher power. And if there is a higher power then most the people here who are atheists would have to answer yes as well.

Someone can create a religion yes, but no one can make you believe it, even under force, if you don't want too. No one can control what you think and feel.

Side: yes
garry77777(1796) Disputed
3 points

"Of course we have free will. We decide what our actions will be, we determine what comes out of our mouths"

Our actions are pre-determiend by who we are, we do not have free will because in any given situation when confronted with the same set of circumstances we will react to the same external stimuli in exactly the same way based on our biology and psychology.

"He of course is the creator but stepped back...to allow us to live and to decide our fates"

Of course.

"If you don't think we have free will and are controlled...then obviously you believe in a higher power."

If depends on what you mean by higher power, higher power could mean natural forces.

"Someone can create a religion yes, but no one can make you believe it,"

I beg to differ, when young the mind is shaped by the reality with which it is presented.

"No one can control what you think and feel."

Again that simply isn't true, minds are completely accessible, and susceptible to all kinds of manipulation, and these techniques are becoming more powerful and subtly

nuanced as time progresses. The effects regementing the mind and instilling uniformity in the minds of large populations are easily demonstrated.

Side: No
churchmouse(328) Disputed
0 points

They are not predetermined....you said so yourself that in different situations we might act differently. LOL

Well can the rain make you put on a raincoat or go inside? Some people like and would choose to walk in the rain. We have free will to decide what we want to do and what we don't.

When a hurricane comes......some people evacuate...some people stay. YOU CHOOSE unless you are forced physically.

I don't drink alcohol. I was in the minority in high school and in college and in my adult life. I did not smoke pot in college. It was all around me. It was my decision. And today....we are a culture of tatoos. I hate them and would never get one. My decision. I dislike the Kardashians....I don't watch them. But some people choose to watch them. We all decide based on our individual wills.

We have infuences in our lives......but ultimately we decide.

Side: yes
TheThinker(1697) Disputed
2 points

This is to everybody who reads this.....The question of this debate is not whether or not Free Will exists. But how can we prove it?

Now this is for you.....Proving that we have free will is difficult. I created this debate and to me it seems like i was using my free will. But how do i actually know if im not controlled by a higher being? Like a videogame. We could be videogame characters like the Sims but don't know that we are in a videogame and go on with our daily life thinking we have free will.

Side: No

But who is to say that im not destined to create these debates or these such words.

You do, and you can. What is this nonsensical gibberish you are producing yet again?

Oh, and long time, no see.

Side: yes
TheThinker(1697) Disputed
1 point

I understand what you are saying. I knew i was going to create this debate. However, how do i know if whether or not if it is my destiny to create this debate? How do i know that an external force pre determined my actions in which i think it is free will.

And honestly, if you think this is gibberish nonsense in which only you think it is, then please don't debate. I don't want to read it as it hurts my feelings, get me angry and annoyed. God bless. :)

Side: No
chatturgha(1631) Disputed
2 points

However, how do i know if whether or not if it is my destiny to create this debate? How do i know that an external force pre determined my actions in which i think it is free will.

You don't know, of course. But the possibility that your actions are predetermined by anything other then yourself has nothing to do with what's relevant to reality, so it might as well be untrue.

And honestly, if you think this is gibberish nonsense in which only you think it is, then please don't debate.

I'm debating for your benefit. I don't intend to stop because you're assuming something about what I think about this.

I don't want to read it as it hurts my feelings, get me angry and annoyed. God bless. :)

Being hurt by irrelevant things makes it easier to cope with the truly horrible things. If you can't brace yourself for the possibility that your ideas are going to be threatened, then you shouldn't be debating.

And for the record, how dare you act like I'm that mean! I was just teasing with the gibberish comment. You're supposed to be able to laugh. Ha ha ha.

Side: yes
1 point

Yes as a Christian we have free will to believe in God. We are not forced to believe in Him. Its the person choice. It is also the person's choice on what to wear, or what to eat and where you can live. Its your choice and you can do whatever except for the bad things. We have a free will to live off the land on a farm without anybody forcing us how to live and what way to live. We have the choice to buy whatever food we want without someone bothering with you on what to buy same thing with clothubg

Side: yes
casper3912(1581) Disputed
3 points

You do realize that economically speaking, those choices are impossible for many people ?

Side: No
1 point

Fate is only inflicted on you by beings and forces that you have yet to develop the intellect, technology, and strength, to overcome.

Side: yes
casper3912(1581) Disputed
1 point

What constitutes you consists of things outside of yourself. In order to have free will, you would have to be god in that you would need control over everything, since everything is a factor in who you are. For every cause you can trace back a ever expanding train of causes till you lose the trail, you are not an uncaused cause, and thus there are reasons outside of yourself for who you are; these reasons ultimately expand out to include everything that is known and these determine you.

Side: No
1 point

No one is controlled, we are only influenced. But even then you can choose to do the opposite at any given moment.You can train and condition a kid all your life. At any given moment if he choose he can stab you to death and claim he is god or something.

Side: yes
1 point

We have free will as much as the law will allow.

Our free will is based on our ubringing, societal influence, and individual conscience.

It is easily influenced when we are young. As we get older we form our own opinions, but even then "free will" can be influenced or controlled to some degree.

There is no such thing as "total free will". To do "whatever one wants" would probably get one locked up.Humans are agressive by nature, so free will has to be somewhat "controlled".

So the answer is both yes and no.

Side: yes
Coldfire(1014) Disputed
2 points

We have free will as much as the law will allow.

This contradicts the concept of free will. According to free will, you have the choice to do whatever you want and it is not governed or forced by anything, including the law. So, anyone could either exercise their ‘free will’ to go against the law or abide by the law.

Personally, I see no evidence of free will, a person’s decision to break or abide by the law is determined by specific causal factors which the individual had no choice in from the start, therefore one cannot rightly say that they were free in the decision they made.

Our free will is based on our ubringing, societal influence, and individual conscience.

Again, this contradicts the concept of free will. You cannot say that free will is based on or determined by anything because that would fall under the concept of determinism. Determinism is the opposite of free will.

It is easily influenced when we are young. As we get older we form our own opinions, but even then "free will" can be influenced or controlled to some degree.

So we are influenced when we are young, and influenced when we are older (to a lesser extent according to your comment, but influenced nonetheless).

Where does free will come in? When are we able to EVER make a ‘free will’ decision? How is it even possible if we are always influenced in making our decisions?

There is no such thing as "total free will". To do "whatever one wants" would probably get one locked up.

You say there is “no such thing” and yet people get locked up all the time, so according to that logic there IS such a thing, correct?

Regardless of that logic, flawed as it is, free will doesn’t exist for other reasons. Namely the fact that every action or thought is caused by something, making it NOT free. The concept of ‘free will’ is inane and quite honestly very STUPID imo.

Humans are agressive by nature, so free will has to be somewhat "controlled".

This is a whole new debate in itself, the idea that there is ‘human nature,’ apart from basic survival and procreation instincts which is inherent to all life forms. There is no ‘human nature’ that differentiates us from other life, there is human behavior, but it is not nature. Behavior is not based on instinct (although it can sometimes be caused by instinct), it is not inherent, it is something learned. The notion that “humans are aggressive by nature,” can be and IS proven wrong by the simple fact that there are unaggressive humans.

But I digress; once again you have contradicted the idea of free will in that comment. If free will has to be controlled, then it is not free.

Side: No
1 point

Will is like a machine. First we come up with something to do. Then we tweak it without knowing. Your body would tweak the action or "will" until it sees fit to let it happen. So in reality your mind is doing all the work and your mind is part of you so YES.

Side: yes
1 point

it's not really that hard, we have the free will to make decisions, people can tell use to do somthing, that not free will, it's free will if we make the decision to listen to them or not.

Side: Yes
3 points

You can prove you don't.

Free will states that an entity makes his decisions alone, but choice requires a standard, and well we may modify our standard of choice overtime, it is done so in light of previous standards. Further more, we need an original standard to start making choices with; the original standard isn't one that we choose; such would be absurd. Thus our decisions are not solely ours.

Side: No

So we can prove that we don't have free will.

Im confused about what you mean that choice requires a standard? Can you dumb it down for me please or give me an example.

I think i understand what you mean. Let me see if i got it right. In order to choose a religion, a religion must be already present.

My head is confused.

Side: No
2 points

You need some criteria to base your decision off of, if asked to decide between two options you'll need a standard to compare them with, and some way of valuating the options in order to decide, else your "decision" is just a random choice.

Side: No
2 points

Religion is a good example. My friend is really religious and i think he is religious by the household he grew up in. And is muslim and he tells me to thank Allah right before you take a test, have sex, pick up food, etc. Im not dishonoring him by saying this. He is a smart man but it interests me to find out that....why he is so religious.

Is it because of his family? And i don't think it is free will because his family gave his this standard to walk on. And to him as a child, he must walk the path of being deeply religious. And if that is the case, then that is not free will. He chose too, then i guess it is free will. I would say it is free will because he chose to walk that path. But in a controlling way, it doesn't seem like free will.

Anyway, this is not the debate question. How can we prove that we do have free will? Are we controlled?

Side: No
2 points

If you are a completely irrational thinker and human being, then yeah, I guess you could consider yourself "free". And by "free" I mean free to jump of a bridge suddenly, or shoot your next door neighbor for no apparent reason, or light your house on fire.

But normally, we act in a way that is predetermined. And I mean this in a way as follows "I'm hungry. Therefore I'm going to eat. But I don't want to get fat, so I'm not going to eat anything that has a lot of calories in it" Those could be considered free actions because I made the conscious decision to do them, but if you look just a little deeper than that, each decision was predetermined by the last one.

So if you want to say that none of your actions predetermine the next, you will have to act in a way that is so totally random and hay-wired that you appear crazy to any rational thinker.

Side: No
2 points

No we cannot prove we have free will. No we do not have free will.

The idea of free will is more than simply 'making choices,' which it is often confused with.

Most people that blindly believe in free will also blindly believe in many other things.

For those of you who believe in the concept of free will, I am curious to know: 1. If you are religious, and 2. where do you see evidence of the existence of free will even within your own religion? In other words, where does it say it in your holy text that we have free will?

This should be interesting...

Side: No
2 points

What is "free will"? (Will, means the function of choosing) What happens if you decide that you will no longer work or pay your taxes? The cause and effect steps in and your free will goes out the door.

Generally us humans are acclaimed to have free will but it is usually constrained by conditioned beliefs programmed within our consciousness. Most of us are restricted from practicing free will because we have been psychologically programmed from birth to constantly live in fear of going against the will of our superiors, leaders and masters therefore demonstrating that we have no free will at all. It's all an illusion!

Side: No
1 point

I was a determinist for a while, but I can't say that any longer. However, I do not think you can prove free-will. It's just something you have to experience.

Side: No

I'm curious, what causes you to no longer be a determinist?

Side: No
garry77777(1796) Disputed
1 point

"It's just something you have to experience."

I don't mean to nit pick but thats not really an argument, if it was my arguments would be quite strange indeed as i have also had experiences that defy expected reality but if you are going to disagree you should be able to do so using a series of crude metaphors or analogies if a cogent argument argument seems beyond your capabailities or the capabilites of the language.

Side: yes
1 point

I agree, it's not an argument. Just my position.

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Side: No
1 point

I think people don't have any free will at all. Because all of our dreams, desires or decisions are same for everyone from childhood. We can just choose the way but not create it. So i think its not a free will.

Side: No

No one asks to be born, therefore, there is no such entity as free will.

Side: No