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Do we really possess free will? I mean, are our choices genuinely free and independent,

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or are they influenced by factors beyond our control? What I mean is, do we control our behavior,

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or is there some predetermined event that occurs that controls us? And I'm not talking necessarily

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religious. This question basically sparks a monumental philosophical debate divided between

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those who believe in absolute free will, and those who see it basically as an illusion. Yet,

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there are nuanced views in between the two ideologies, with some arguing that free will can

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coexist with determinism, while others just completely firmly disagree. And this is a topic

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that invites us to challenge our deepest assumptions about free will or determinism.

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Welcome to today's episode of Unscripted Life, the podcast that confronts you with the unsettling

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truth life doesn't follow a script, and much of what we've been taught is an illusion. I'm your

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host Alan Stafford. Join me as we dive into the compelling notion that free will might just be a myth.

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Thank you for joining me again, and if this is your first time, thank you for joining me to

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begin with free will. I mean, that's we're not talking free willy the movie, we're talking free

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will our ability to make choices autonomously from any other predetermined idea. So free will is

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basically the ability for us humans to make choices independently of external coercion or, as I said,

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predetermination essential to discussions on morality, ethics, and responsibility. So basically,

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free will is the idea that we have control of our own morality of our own ethics and of our own

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responsibility. I mean, and this goes back all the way back to the Enlightenment, the 18th century,

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you had philosophers, basis, basically political philosophers, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, who argued

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that free will is central to understanding human rights in the nature of governance. So this goes

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back this this thinking of free will goes all the way back to the 18th century, like I said,

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during the Enlightenment, which was basically a European transformation, it was a reprogramming,

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so to speak, of politics, philosophy, science, and communication during that time period. And part

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of that was to determine or to discuss, does man actually create his own behaviors as he

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govern himself? And these philosophers, John Locke and Thomas Hobbes both argued that yes,

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basically, I mean, John Locke's quote is men are to be judged by their actions, not their thoughts.

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So in essence, it's not our thinking that controls us, it's our actions that control us. I mean,

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that's pretty heavy. Have you ever thought about, have you ever really thought about free will? I

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mean, you automatically get up, do things throughout your day, and you're not thinking about how you're

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doing them, you're just thinking that you need to do them, but you're not really realizing that there

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might be something predetermined neurologically in your mind that causes you to behave in a

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certain way beyond your conscious control. And these challenges to free will, the illusion of

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free will are basically rooted in neuroscientific findings and deterministic perspectives, basically

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suggesting that our decisions are not as autonomous as we believe. I mean, there have been

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neuroscientific studies such as those by the neuroscientist Benjamin Liebet, who have shown

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brain activity related to decisions occur before we are consciously aware of choosing those

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decisions. That's pretty fascinating. So basically what it's saying, what Liebet is arguing is that

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there is scientific evidence to prove that there is neurotransmitter, or neural activity going on

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our brains that are making decisions for us before we are consciously aware of these decisions. So if

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free will is an illusion, think about the implications that it has on our society and on

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everyday life for us in America, at least, because free will underpins our legal system. It affects

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social interactions, it highlights its importance in fostering personal responsibility in moral

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integrity. So imagine for a moment, if neuroscience is correct, our behavior is predetermined

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through neurological activity before our conscious actually registers it and behaves on it. How does

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that change our society? And I know what you're probably thinking, oh, no, we have free will,

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because I know I make decisions for myself. This is not what I'm talking about, because what I'm

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saying is neuroscience proves that some behavior is caused by neural activity before the conscious

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mind knows that it's doing it. So we've already seen proof for the neuroscientific part of that.

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The question comes into play if we adopt a deterministic view on humanity and say that

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free will does not truly exist, what implication does that have for our society? Our legal system

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is in jeopardy because our legal system is completely based on the notion that man has free

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will, because we punish based on man's crimes, right? Man does, man makes a choice. And I'm using

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the word man in terms of human, not man is in terms of male here. I'm using it in the archaic

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term, meaning humans. We as humans, if we make a certain choice, we are punished for that choice.

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There's a consequence for that. And that's our legal system is based on that free will choice.

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But if free will is a myth, if it's an illusion, then who do we or how do we base our behavior on?

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Even our morality, is our morality predetermined? Are we designed to have a specific set of morals?

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And yet we don't know that. And we react to that deterministic view inside of our

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neurological makeup? I mean, I don't know. But I think it's interesting. I mean, entertain the

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thought for a moment that, you know, our judicial system, like I said, operates on the principles

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that individuals are held accountable for their actions. Imagine for a moment that we're not.

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I mean, can you what kind of we would have to have, we would have to set up a society where we have

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consequences based on a predetermined action that we do subconsciously in our conscious.

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And if that's too heavy for you, it's even heavy for me. It's it, you got to get your mind wrapped

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about around that. And we can't, it's hard for us humans to wrap our minds around things we can't

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see and understand. So we make up all these stories, you know, to justify things that we

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don't understand, like religion, political ideology, and a whole host of other fictional

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realities that we engage in. But I just think that's real fascinating, though. I think it's

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interesting to argue the fact that free will is a myth. The net basically unravels everything we

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know as humans in our society, everything we've created, that is really subjective. It's not

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even objective. You know, the legal system is not an objective thing. It's purely subjective. So

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as morality is purely subjective. Well, maybe because it's subjective, it's really not really

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free will anyway. Hmm. Didn't think about that, right? I mean, and free will is viewed very differently

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across philosophical and cultural perspectives. I mean, you have the idea of the Christian doctrine

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of predestination, but yet God has given man free will. So it's kind of almost an oxymoron. We

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we have predeterminate, we have a predestination, we have determinism built into religion, yet man

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has free will. So that counteracts that contradicts itself right there. And then the concept of karma

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and Buddhism, where your actions follow you throughout your life and into the next life,

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as well. And you have to do certain things in order to basically repent or to cleanse yourself

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of that bad karma. I mean, Stoics, even even even philosophically Stoics, Stoicism, Epicureanism,

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if I said that correctly, they believe that basically moral fate is predetermined. It's

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quite opposite of religion. And that's why, and that's probably why religion and philosophy are

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always at odds with one another, because they're both opposite of one another. So if we take free

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will away from man, and believe in determinism, where neurologically, our brains decide for us

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subconsciously, what our conscious mind will do, that basically unravels everything we've ever

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learned, whether you're a Christian or a Muslim or Jew or a Buddhist, you know, or a Sikh, or a

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pagan, whatever, it basically says human beings are not responsible for their actions and their

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morality, that that will mess up and unravel our legal system and everything. So it's easier to sit

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there and play along with the illusion that we have free will, than it is to go against it,

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even though there are scientific evidence demonstrating determinism exists neurologically.

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We're going to talk about maybe combining both of those ideologies together in a bit though.

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So hang on to your hats there. I don't want you to think it's going to be one or the other.

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But you can certainly pick a side because there's no right or wrong. It's just what is your

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philosophical perspective on this. And I'm not going to tell you mine just yet. Okay. And there's

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even more proof that challenges the idea of free will. I mean, the unconscious mind can control

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behavior and is capable of executing complex decisions without the need for conscious input.

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That's neurology. That's neuroscience. That's studies. I mean, a significant amount of our

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decision making occurs subconsciously and it's influenced by, well, stimuli emotions and biases

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that are not in our conscious awareness, folks. And there's psychological studies on the priming

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effect since the 1980s that show how exposure to certain stimuli and some of its subliminal stimuli

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that can subconsciously influence behaviors and our decisions and our decisions basically

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suggesting our choices are not entirely free or deliberate. So we have neuroscience backing us

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up and challenging free will. Again, this isn't conclusive to everything we do, but it is a big

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part of who we are as humans, challenging the notion that free will exists, that we act on our

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own agency. I mean, and there's even more neuroscientific evidence of predetermined decisions.

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There are neuroscientific studies, including those on readiness potential that suggests our brain

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activity related to decision occurs before our conscious awareness, basically challenging

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the notion of free will. We make decisions before we're consciously aware of it. And I keep beating

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that down because that's a big part of determinism that our subconscious makes those decisions

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before our consciousness is aware of it. And yet we're not even aware of that. And this is why

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we have this illusion of free will because we can't comprehend what we're not seeing or feeling

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internally. So we say to ourselves, we are making this choice when in fact, the subconscious is

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making a decision before our conscious mind is making that decision for us. So you're not really

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in control of your own decision. And this is scientific proof, folks. This is neuroscientific

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studies. Like I said, since the 1980s on the priming effect, where certain stimuli influence

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our behaviors and our decisions. And a lot of the study comes from Benjamin Liebet's experiments

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back in the 1980s. Basically, his experiments revealed that the readiness potential in the brain,

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which is a marker of neural activity, precedes the conscious decisions to act. Basically,

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it's implying that decisions are initiated by unconscious neural processes. So again, studies

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done by neuroscientists like Liebet and other neuroscientists for the last probably 40, 50 years

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are demonstrating that we're making decisions before our conscious mind knows it, supporting

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determinism, and debunking the idea of free will. But again, the question I ask, is it one or the other,

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or can there be a combination of both? I mean, that's a good question, right? And I don't know.

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And you can't, and you can't sit there and say conclusively that I have free will and that's it,

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because you don't know yourself. And I don't know myself. And neuroscientists who do the studies

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only know certain parts of it. And think about this year for a second, the belief in free will

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basically deeply influences our emotional responses, such as guilt, pride, and the

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essence of achievement. Can you imagine if we robbed ourselves of free will, what would be our

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motivation to achieve? If we said, Hey, free will doesn't exist. And your efforts to become successful

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are pretty much predicated on some deterministic value or neurological process in your mind.

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What are you going to think? Well, forget it, I'm not even going to try that. I'll just let my

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brain subconsciously put it into my head and my consciousness will take over. Can you imagine

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that we'd have like a world of lazy people, I think, I think it works symbiotically, I think

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they work together in tandem, this is just my own personal theory. But then again, it's limited by

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my own thinking, right? And my own thinking is biased and flawed, because I really don't know

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all the ins and outs of what's going on inside my brain. But can you imagine, there'd be no more

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feelings of guilt, why would you feel guilty? I mean, well, I guess you would have there,

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okay, so I take that back, there still would be feelings of guilt, because subconsciously,

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neurologically, you would be feeling guilty. And you would think that you're feeling guilty.

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Maybe this explains why some people get depressed, and they don't know why they get depressed, or

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why they feel guilty, or why they feel embarrassed when they shouldn't feel embarrassed. Maybe their

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subconscious is actually triggering that, and then it's spilling over into their consciousness,

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and then they're feeling the embarrassment or guilt. And then they realize, why, why am I feeling

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this? I mean, that's a possibility. I wouldn't discount that at all. Heck, you can go with that.

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You can say next time you feel guilty about something, and you really don't want to feel

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guilty, you can simply blame it on a neurological process, determinism, basically, it's happening

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before you even know it, and you can say, Hey, look, you know what, I'm feeling guilty, but I

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really shouldn't feel guilty, because I shouldn't feel guilty about what I just did. So it's really

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something that's occurring in my subconscious. So let's just go ahead and scratch that I don't

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feel guilty, move on. I mean, I guess you could use that as an excuse and cite neurological studies,

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you know, on determinism. So I mean, like psychological research basically suggests that

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feelings of guilt and pride assume control over our own actions. And this undermining this,

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or undermining free will, would basically lessen these emotional responses, as I said,

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basically impacting personal personal motivation and our self esteem. I wonder how that would

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affect us think about that, how would that affect your self esteem if you realized that you don't

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have the free will to be motivated, that motivation is determined in the subconscious, how does that

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impact you consciously. So if you want to go to the gym, and you decide, Oh, well, I'm just not

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going to go to the gym, because my subconscious will take that over. And if I want to go, it will

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decide that I should go for myself. Maybe that's a lot of maybe that's a reason a lot of people use

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laziness or don't want to do something, because they just go, Oh, my subconscious is telling me

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not to do this. That might make sense. I mean, and aside from our own personal feelings, and the

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legal system, as we've discussed, you know, you got cultural perceptions of fate. So folks on the

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flip side, if we're taking a look at free will and defending free will, people often argue,

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experts, philosophers argue that determinism, which let me let me pause right here and say that

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determinism, if you don't know, basically means that things are predetermined, okay,

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that your behaviors are predetermined. And so determinists will argue that neurological

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stimuli basically predetermine your behavior in your subconscious, before your conscious fully

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engages in that behavior. But determinism is often criticized for basically oversimplifying

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oversimplifying human decision making. And it doesn't take into account the unpredictable

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and varied nature of human responses. So if we take that apart for a second and think,

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let's imagine for a moment that free will does not exist. And we're really just everything is

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deterministic, everything occurs subconsciously in the mind, before your conscious reacts. What

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the argument against determinism is saying that if you're presented with a problem, a situation,

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that you need to make a decision, the subconscious mind will make that decision, that's a deterministic

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view before the conscious mind does. What supporters of free will come back and say is that let's say

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the mind makes that decision before the conscious does, but now you have to make adjustments to

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that quickly. And they're arguing that it's oversimplified that determinism is oversimplified

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in that those complex decisions that follow that one decision are what free will is about,

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if that makes any sense to you at all. So basically, they're saying, let's entertain

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the thought that your subconscious mind makes a choice before your conscious mind does. But

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there's an outside element that is impacted by your decision, your subconscious decision,

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it creates an unpredictable environment. Now you have to make a counter decision

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to correct that unpredictability. So what happens is that determinism? No, they say that's free

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will because you're making that on the fly, because your mind cannot calculate that. Are

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they're arguing that the mind doesn't calculate that beforehand, which maybe it does. I don't know.

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I mean, I'm not a neurologist. But anyway, that is what the supporters of free will say,

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that determinism is oversimplified, and it doesn't take into account the unpredictable nature of

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human behavior. I mean, and they have proof for that as well. So you have the determinists that

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have proof neurologically that decisions are made subconsciously before the conscious mind knows it,

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and you have those that support free will saying that, well, we have proof too. And basically,

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the supporting data is that quantum mechanics, there in quantum mechanics, there are several

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events that occur without deterministic causes, because in science, there's always a cause and

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effect. But in quantum mechanics, you have some of these events that occur without any predetermined

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cause without anything occurring before the actual event. And basically, this challenges

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those strict deterministic views in that in quantum mechanics, you can have something occur without a

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cause and effect, a predetermined cause. So I don't know where your mindset is right now,

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or you lean in towards, I believe in free will, or you lean in towards a deep more deterministic

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viewpoint that our subconscious basically makes a decision before our conscious reacts. And if I

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was a betting man, I would bet that you're probably leaning towards free will. And here's why I say

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that because free will is easy to understand. It's you doing what you do. Determinism requires

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a heavier thought process. It requires you to suspend your belief in what you physically see

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occurring, meaning the action that you're taking and the thoughts that you're having to take that

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action, and assume that there's something underlying that subconscious that conscious thought

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that's in the subconscious, that's causing you to do that conscious action. So it's easier to

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go towards free will. This is probably why everything is predicated on free will, you

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know, our judicial system, our morality, our ethics, our, you know, our personal feelings.

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It's all based on free will. We are free to choose how we feel and how we act and therefore

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there's consequences to those actions, rather than looking at it and saying, well, there's a

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possibility that there's a deterministic way that we act and that's in the subconscious. So either

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way you look at it, you're going to have opposing views. But there's a third way to look at this

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here. And it's the compatabulous perspective. I'm talking about compatabilism between free will

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and determinism. So basically, compatabilists will argue that free will can exist alongside

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determinism. So it's a good way of looking at, you know, I'm in the middle of the road and we

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can have both. So a compatabilist suggests that freedom involves acting according to your own

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motivation and your own desires. And both of these can be meaningful, even if they are determined,

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what they're to say, what they're basically what a compatabilist says is that free will can exist

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and we can it can be they say free will can exist, and it can be meaningful, even if there is

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determinism, even if things are predetermined. So an argument for compatabilism. So taking a look

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at Daniel Dennett's argument, he's a philosopher, compatabilist, basically arguing that the ability

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to reflect an act according to a person's reason, desires provides a practical form of free will,

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basically aligning freedom with self aware decision making rather than your spontaneity.

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So what Dennett is arguing is that our ability to reflect and to act to our own reasoned desires

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provides a practical form of free will and it aligns for that freedom with our self awareness,

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our decision making, rather than pure spontaneity. So what he's basically saying is that we can have

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free will, we can have determinism, it can be meaningful, and it doesn't have to be spontaneous.

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So in the end, our nature is really not a constraint on our freedom, but it's the very basis

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for our capacity to imagine and to shape our destinies. And this is what Daniel Dennett is

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ultimately saying in compatabilism between bringing self awareness and determinism together,

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that we can coexist, find meaning and still have free will and have things still predetermined.

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But what about the role of consciousness and self awareness in making our choices?

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How does that play into making our choices? Well, both of them, both consciousness and self

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awareness are crucial in order for us to have genuine free will. We need consciousness and

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that self awareness to have free will because it provides the capacity for self reflection.

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In order for us to be self reflecting, we need to have that free will. It also provides for us

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provides planning and our voluntary decision making. I mean, there's research and cognitive

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psychology that suggests consciousness, conscious thought processes enable us to consider future

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consequences. It also enables us to weigh alternative choices and align actions with our

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personal values and our long term goals. So basically, free will helps us stay motivated.

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It helps us align our personal values, what we value now with our long term goals, what we want

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to achieve in the future. So there's an argument for free will. And then there's an argument for

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determinism. And then there's an argument for compatible, compatabilism. It's kind of a tough

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word to say, but the needless to say, wherever you fall on the spectrum between free will

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and determinism, I believe that they go in hand in hand, they coexist together. Because

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if we're looking at it this way, self awareness and consciousness itself requires free will,

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unless we can prove through neural neuroscience that it's predetermined. And we haven't done that

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yet. But yet there are things that occur within human behavior in the subconscious that the

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conscious is not yet aware of, but the conscious acts upon it when the subconscious takes and

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processes that information that stimuli. So I think in the end, if you take a look at it,

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there is a symbiotic relationship between free will and determinism. And that is called

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compatabilism. So I'm always going to take the middle of the road. I don't have the answer

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as far as one or the other is concerned, I just know that both can coexist and both do exist.

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And from the based on the evidence and based on science itself. But the takeaway is despite the

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challenges, you know, a nuanced understanding of free will, and it's supported by both philosophical

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reasoning and scientific insights affirms that free will exists and that it is important in the

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role in human behavior. And this is subject to ongoing debates and research, you know, to continue

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to refine our understanding of free will, you know, emphasizing its role in moral responsibility

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and personal identity. So don't expect the judicial, don't expect the judicial system to fall

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because we don't have free will, that's not going to happen. So you can't sit there and

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commit a crime and say, Well, I was not in control. So therefore, I shouldn't commit be punished for

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this. It was some sort of subconscious, you know, effort or process that caused me to do this action.

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Therefore, I should not be punished for it. That's not going to happen, folks.

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So bringing it all together aligning, you know, the fallacy or the myth or the

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illusion of free will with an unscripted life, a life where there's really no scripts written for

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how you should behave and who you should be, you know, how do we align that? Well, basically recognizing

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the limitations for the illusion of free will enhances, it enhances the theme of embracing

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life's unpredictability, because life is unpredictable, we cannot control what we cannot

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control. And that's about everything. Even our thoughts sometimes we can't control even our

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behavior as we've learned that maybe free will is a myth that determinism truly does exist because

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neuroscience has proven it that maybe we're not really in control, but it is possible

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to lead a fulfilling life by focusing on what we can control, focusing on those aspects such as our

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responses and our attitudes without relying on a notion of absolute free will. So we know we can

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control aspects of our life, and we don't have to worry too much about the idea of free will,

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we just have to worry about being able to control those aspects that we can control. And we can

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accept life's inherent uncertainty because it enhances emotional and psychological resilience.

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I mean, psychology, psychological studies suggest that embracing uncertainty basically reduces

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anxiety over the future and builds resilience. And that is crucial for adapting to life's changes.

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So the fact that we can actually inherit or accept life's uncertainty enhances our ability

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to adapt our resiliency towards life itself. And that's a lot to digest, folks. I mean, I get it.

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Depending, regardless of where you are on the spectrum here, whether you free will 100% believe

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in free will, you somewhat believe in free will, you believe in determinism, or you believe in a

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kind of a mixture of both. And I think if we did a poll, the majority of people would probably find,

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well, I shouldn't say the majority of the people, I think a lot of people will automatically go to

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free will because they can see it and observe it without having to do any deep thinking about

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the subconscious and what goes on or knowing about neuroscience and or or good slice of the

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population would subscribe to the in the midpoint, the compatibilist ideology and that we can

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find meaningful life within free will and determinism together. But wherever you stand on this issue,

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think about how it has an impact on your life moving forward, how free will impacts your life

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and your decisions and your choices, how determinism might impact your life and your choices moving

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forward and live your life embracing the unknown, embracing uncertainty in order to help yourself

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build that resiliency towards life, be able to adapt quicker than other people, for example,

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who are more rigid in their thinking. So you know, wrapping this up here, the whole the whole

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exploration of free will and determinism basically invites us to reflect on the deep and often

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unnoticed ways in which the concept of free will or its absence permeates every aspect of our life.

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How does it shape our actions as I've asked our relationships and our societal structures?

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What does it mean for personal accountability and ethical behavior? Some things to think about,

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some things to think about moving forward, you know, I want to encourage each of you to think

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about where you stand in this debate. How does the notion of free will or its limitations

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impact your daily life and your decisions? Are there particular strategies you found effective

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in embracing the unpredictability of life at all? And at any point, you know, that'd be interesting

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to know. Hey, and if you've, if you found today's episode thought provoking, I'd encourage you to

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subscribe to Life Unscripted, my podcast on your favorite podcast platform, because my goal

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is to continue bringing you content that challenges, educates, and inspires you. So join me next time

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as I unravel another complex theme about life consciousness and the human condition. I want

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to thank you very much from the bottom of my heart for tuning in. And remember, in a world that often

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feels stripped of embracing the unexpected can be your greatest strength.