A Free Will Dialog

This is representative of several conversations I’ve had over the years. Consider this a request for comment.

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Friend: “I’ve been reading your blog lately. You’re pretty smart.”

Me: “I’m not so sure about that.”

Friend: “I think you are. You’ve made me think about some things I’ve never considered before.”

Me: “That’s good. I’m always trying to figure things out. I’m not that good at it, though.”

Friend: “I think you’ve got more figured out than anyone else I know.”

Me: “I doubt it. I struggle with some things that others seem to think are easy.”

Friend: “Oh? Like what?”

Me: “I don’t even know what free will is, for example.”

Friend: “Seriously?”

Me: “Yes. Seriously.”

Friend: “I don’t believe you.” pauses “I should have known you were a Calvinist.”

Me: “No, I’m not. But that means you’re an Arminian.”

Friend: “Why do you say that?”

Me: “Calvinist always say I sound like an Arminian and Arminians always say I sound like a Calvinist.”

Friend: “I see. Well, I’ll tell you what: you’ve really helped me a lot lately. I’d like to return the favor. I have a really good handle on free will. I’m willing to teach you.”

Me: “Really? I appreciate that.”

Friend: “So let’s start simple. You have an apple and an orange. You can only eat one. So you choose one.”

Me: “I like this example. I’ll take the apple.”

Friend: “See, you’re getting it already! You freely choose the apple with your will.”

Me: “So my will is my preferences?”

Friend: “Excuse me?”

Me: “I pick the apple because I prefer apples to oranges. Well, sometimes I do anyway.”

Friend: “Not exactly. I mean, sometimes you pick things that aren’t your preferences, right? Like when you’re being noble and give up the last apple so someone else can have it.”

Me: “Yeah, I’ve done that. I mean, by analogy anyway.”

Friend: “See, that’s free will, too.”

Me: “Okay, so my free will is my ethics?”

Friend: “No. Not quite. I mean, sometimes some people — not you I’m sure — do what they would rather not do even when it’s wrong.”

Me: “I’ve been there. I’ve eaten a bag of junk food that I didn’t even like the taste of just because I was bored.”

Friend: “See. Now you’re getting it.”

Me: “So my free will is just by base instincts.”

Friend: “Excuse me?”

Me: “When you get down to it, that’s why I’m doing these things. I have experiences and instincts that drive me to do one thing or another. Bad habits or good habits, instincts and knowledge, all directing every moment, right?”

Friend: “Well, kind of. There are definitely those things and they weight your decisions, but you have a free will that’s deeper than all that.”

Me: “How do you mean?”

Friend: “Well, imagine that you have no preference for one thing or the other, and no past experience to cloud your reason to choose one or the other, and no future hope based on the decision, and it’s just entirely up to the moment. You have to choose. You freely choose at that point.”

Me: “But then it doesn’t matter what I chose.”

Friend: “Yes, but it’s basically the same process as when you do have reasons behind the selection.”

Me: “So you mean, making the decision that’s in my best interest and will satisfy my appetite and all that kind of thing? You’re saying that there’s always some randomness in it like rolling dice inside your head?”

Friend: “Kind of. Something doesn’t feel right when you put it that way, but let’s roll with it for a minute and I’m sure as we play it out the problem will come clear. You have a way of doing that.”

Me: “Okay, so then why does it matter?”

Friend: “Why does what matter?”

Me: “Why does it matter which choice you make if it’s all just basically random?”

Friend: “Well, if what you were going to do was determined before you were born, is it fair to punish you for crimes that were inevitable?”

Me: “If what you do is just random chance working out a particular way at a particular time, is it right to punish you for having a bad dice roll in your soul? Realistically, if it’s just dice rolling around in your soul, and how you punish someone won’t really affect them or change them or have any effect on improving the lives of their victims, then I don’t see the point of punishing them. At least if it’s influenced by their experience and hope a punishment has a chance of changing that.”

Friend: “That’s why I don’t think it’s really a dice roll.”

Me: “Okay. So, if it isn’t a dice roll, and it isn’t just reacting to your history and your internal structures, then what is it?”

Friend: “Okay, we’ve kind of gotten lost in the weeds, I think. Look at it this way. You have a soul. Your soul will take into account all your history and all your preferences and your instincts and whatever else, so it’s not completely random. But beyond all that, you make the decision in your soul.”

Me: “How?”

Friend: “What do you mean?”

Me: “Going back to the decision that doesn’t require my history or instincts or preferences or whatever else, how do I choose?”

Friend: “You just do.”

Me: “Will I always make the same choice?”

Friend: “No.”

Me: “Then how can I be judged for making the wrong choice?”

Friend: “I don’t think I follow your question. Maybe I need an example.”

Me: “Okay, let’s say there’s a bill on the ballot to make it illegal to burn paper cups. I don’t know why they want to ban burning paper cups. I vote on the bill because I’m a good citizen that way. One side says that it’s a way to deport immigrants and the other side says it’s about job creation.”

Friend: “Which side is which?”

Me: “It’s a thought experiment.”

Friend: “Okay, sorry. Well, I guess you’ll research it as much as you decide is prudent and then vote according to your research.”

Me: “Which brings us back to my experience and preferences and stuff.”

Friend: “I see that. I think you’re right.”

Me: “Right? How can I be right? I haven’t said anything!”

Friend: “I think you’re right that there’s no such thing as free will.”

Me: “I… You… What? You just said…”

Friend: “I know what I said. I see now that I was wrong.”

Me: “How?”

Friend: “Well, obviously what we think of as ‘free will’ is just the interaction of or experiences and instincts and preferences and things like that.”

Me: “How is that obvious?”

Friend: “Like you just said, whenever you’re making a decision, it comes down to those things.”

Me: “But what about when they don’t agree?”

Friend: “I’m sorry, what?”

Me: “What about when your experience says one thing but your preference and instinct says the opposite?”

Friend: “Then I guess whichever is stronger.”

Me: “But going back to the case of me eating the snacks I didn’t even like, I had a really strong preference not to eat them and a really good reason to not eat them, and the instinct to eat was really weak at that moment because I was full. How did I do that?”

Friend: “I don’t know. Now I’m confused.”

Me: “How so?”

Friend: “Well, that example really seems to point back to a free will. You made a choice to do something just because it was your will. It wasn’t even a good thing. But I’m not sure how you made that decision. I mean, free will and all… but what does that even mean?”

Me: “I thought you were teaching me.”