Do I have Free Will?

Written By: Arman Momeni

The common notion regarding physics defines science as a banal entity, where equations and formulas dominate one’s worldview. However, science is far more than what is displayed in textbooks and dissertations; science is the sole root to understanding the universe and the complexities which it holds.

Despite revolutionaries such as Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton who pioneered societal advancements through the heliocentric view of the universe or classical mechanics, the term science wasn’t coined during their time. Their work was actually considered a branch of philosophy – natural philosophy. Up until the 19th century philosophy was the path to true knowledge about the world, and questions regarding the physical nature of the universe and how it functioned (what we know refer to as science) was under a branch of philosophy, called natural philosophy. 

When science is viewed from a philosophical nature, it poses more inquisition, prompting existential questions that allow one to grasp the near unfathomable scope of the universe. At Science ReWired, we attempt to promote a metaphysical understanding of science. Rather than merely educating on theories and scientific concepts, we strive to explicate how such concepts in science can be applied to a greater understanding of the universe, and in turn, a greater understanding of one’s purpose and place.

Focusing on purpose, this article from Science ReWired, explore two drastically different interpretations of the universe – a deterministic and an indeterministic perspective. In simpler terms, this article explores one daunting question: Do we have free will? Has the universe carved out our path for us, burdening us with a glorious purpose, or are we the navigators of our journey, holding ambition as our shillelagh as we trot on a triumphant quest to finding our meaning and place in the grandest of sandboxes?

Determinism:

Determinism is simple yet belittling. A deterministic belief is one that states that every decision, situation, or action in the universe is predetermined by some greater force. In a situation where one performs a certain action or makes a certain decision, determinism states that it couldn’t have happened any other way; it is impossible that they could have made any other decision.

For example, let’s say you are choosing your outfit for the day and are stuck between a green hoodie and a brown one; you eventually choose to wear the brown hoodie. Despite the time you spent deciding, determinism states that the decision itself was an illusion. Even though you thought you were choosing between two different options, no matter what, you would have chosen to wear brown. You were destined and forced by the universe to wear the brown hoodie that day. Determinism and free will go hand in hand with determinism essentially being incompatible with free will or the power for humans to make actual decisions.

Determinism was sparked from a materialistic view of the world, which arose from classical Newtonian mechanics. In 1687, Isaac Newton published his laws of motion, which have persisted to the present day. In his dissertation, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Newton explicitly stated his discovery of forces and the impact they have on the universe’s functioning. The laws of motion consisted of the three following clauses:

1.     An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion at a constant speed unless acted on by an external force. In other words, the universe resists change.

2.     The acceleration of an object depends on the mass of the object and the amount of force applied.

3.     Whenever one object exerts a force on another object, the second object exerts and equal and opposite force on the first.

With Newton’s laws of motion, once you know the positions and velocities of all the particles in the universe, you can apply the equations to any time in the past or future, and mechanics will tell you everything that has happened and ever can happen. With classical mechanics, it is clear that the universe has one past, the actual past, and thus, it can only have one possible future – a future completely determined by Newton’s mathematical equations.

Indeterminism:

Indeterminism is the polar opposite of determinism; the doctrine that not all events are determined by an antecedent cause. In indeterminism, people view that some events have no deterministic cause but occur randomly or occur by chance. With an indeterministic view, it’s possible that you would have chosen the green hoodie over the brown one. Indeterminism follows the principles of free will, the idea that we get to choose our path, our purpose, and our ideals.

While determinism follows the materialist view of classical mechanics, indeterminism follows perspectives from quantum mechanics. In quantum mechanics, the behaviour of particles is based off of probability and is unable to be predetermined. Given that the world on a subatomic (quantum) scale is unpredictable, many scientists and philosophers believe that it is fair to assert that the larger-scale universe is also unpredictable.

Indeterminism is also closely related to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle within quantum mechanics. Heisenberg stated that the exact position and momentum of an atomic particle can only be known within certain limits.

Conclusion:

Overall, despite the theoretical evidence, there is no proof as to whether the universe is determined or indetermined. It is ultimately up to you, the reader, to indulge in knowledge surrounding mechanics and quantum mechanics to create your own perspective of the world. Whether you believe we have free will or not is completely up to your discretion. However, regardless of the perspective that you choose, it is important not to be trapped in the past. Whether the mistakes you made were the cause of your own actions or caused by an omniscient entity is ultimately not important. Time moves forward and it is important that we look to the future, rather than dwell on the decisions we made (or were made for us) in the past.

Works Cited: 

Augustine of Hippo. (1963). The city of god against the pagans/De civitate Dei (trans: Green, W.M.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2023, December 23). determinism. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/determinism

Leibniz, G.W. ([1710] 1952). Theodicy: Essays on the goodness of god, the freedom of man and the origin of evil (trans: Huggard, E.M.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.