Do we have 'free will' or does our minds keep us from doing what we want?

@Bushranger Maybe you are the only one who knows?

@DisgruntledWookie I wish there was some way we could study and test this

@DisgruntledWookie And I'm here to enlighten you all lol. It would be nice to be the only one who did, but even if I thought I did, wouldn't that be part of the whole imaginary world in which we live?

Mind you, this is just a total thought experiment and doesn't represent my actual philosophy.

@Bushranger Or predestinate. I wonder about that too.

@DisgruntledWookie [quote]I wish there was some way we could study and test this[/quote]

Very interesting concept. Personally, I have difficulty working out how you would, but I'm very open to any suggestions.

Ive always thought about how id die or where it would happen. But is it possible to change it and avoid it? Or is it set in stone?

@DisgruntledWookie I think that's one of the problems with the whole pre-ordination with belief in free will built in. If I'm told that I was going to die at a specific date, time and location, I could avoid that nexus and theoretically demonstrate free will. However, what if my actions were part of the pre-ordination? I would believe that I had experienced free will, but had only been complying with the pre-ordination.

@Bushranger Thats true. It could be hard to distinguish between the two. We may live in a simulation that is preset to certain conditions and behaviors. Of course proving it is impossible for now.

@Bushranger I see this even branching into the multiple worlds theory. Like the grandfather paradox. If you can go back and kill your own grandfather then that means a different time line. A different choice. But if you can never change the past no matter what you do then that suggest that maybe our choices don't matter. It could also explain some things in the double slit experiment. Maybe the particles are already preordained to go the path they do through some hidden variable. Maybe the universe knows when an observer will observe though a type of feedback mechanism. Just some of my thought experiments.

I know what u mean about the particles changing when people watch them. I saw it on the universe. I also instantly thought of the simulation hypothesis because it makes sense. Somebody created it to do something a certain way. Thats not an accident.

@canusernamebemyusername I'm currently reading an article (not scientific but reasonable so far) on the topic of free will. I'll post a link when I've finished. I think quantum theory is possibly the best explanation and proof so far that free will does exist. But, as you pointed out, it might all be part of the whole delusion.

Don't get me started on the grandfather paradox lol. It's something that I've been struggling with for some time. If I invented a time machine that could travel backwards in time and went back and killed my grandfather, I would not exist and the time machine would never be built. Therefore I would never had gone back to kill my grandfather. If I didn't go back and kill my grandfather, I would invent a time machine that I would use to go back and kill my grandfather, I would not exist.... You get the idea, I think. I believe that it would create a permanent loop in time. Whether that loop would apply only to myself or to the rest of reality, I don't know.

Sorry to the OP for hijacking the post.

@Bushranger Lol It is a fun topic. The grandfather paradox makes me think that time might be self healing.

@canusernamebemyusername I'd like to hear your thinking on that.

@Bushranger Some people think you can only move forward in time and there is no past. Sure it happened. We have proof with pics and video but we can never go back to it sadly.

@Bushranger Like if time traveling was possible and it was possible for that person to change the timeline then something would happen to prevent them from changing that timeline. Like they couldn't go back to begin with, or if they did go back maybe the process would kill them, or what they do when they get there doesn't have an impact, or even more them going back causes the event they went back to stop. So the timeline ends up always protecting itself. One of my thinking before I go to sleep hypothesises. lol

@DisgruntledWookie Yep, that seems to be the consensus amongst physicist. It would be nice to think that it's wrong and that it would be possible to travel backwards in time. Imagine going back and watching yourself when you were younger lol.

Has anyone here read the Ray Bradbury story, The Sound Of Thunder? Great example of the grandfather paradox, as well as just a great story. One of my favourite authors.

@canusernamebemyusername Love the concept. But it does point to a very pre-ordained world. The world knows what you are going to do, so it takes your actions into account to ensure that it all remains as it should.

@Bushranger Yeah. Not very free will. Sorry:(

@canusernamebemyusername Don't be sorry, it's a good concept. I'm going to have to give it a bit more thought, though.

So I sit at home all day and do absolutely nothing but eat,drink,and sleep I will somehow not be fired or called a crackpot?

@DisgruntledWookie Sounds like a good life to me lol.

@Bushranger Id go bananas 😂

@Bushranger Thinking is fun:3