Do we really have free will? I read the prompt description over and over again because this is one of those questions that leads one into a deeper thought about life before coming up with the right response.
...and here I am pondering if we actually have free will or if we just live by expected rules by our society.
I will say yes, we have free will to some extent, but then, some of our freedom is limited. Sometimes, we make choices that even attract repercussions due to influences of culture, religion, and what have you.
As humans, we have the ability to make decisions on certain things we want to achieve. For instance, we can decide today that we are visiting a friend; we can decide on the type of food to cook today, the occasion to attend, the one to avoid, etc. But then, we don't live alone but live together with others in our society, and for a society to function well, there must be rules and regulations governing such a society.
Take, for instance, in my country, there are laws guiding how people should behave. As a car owner, for example, I have the free will to drive to wherever I want, but the moments I decide to ignore the traffic laws and drive carelessly, it could result in a negative outcome and would attract facing legal laws, and thus, laws don't mean that I don't have free will anymore, but they simply force me to remain accountable for the way I use my freedom.
I think I have practical life experience on this subject. When I married new, I felt frustrated at some point seeing that my voice didn't matter. Hubby wouldn't consider my opinion before taking some final decision, and it hurt me deeply. I was quiet because our society expects women to endure marriages and be submissive. I didn't want it to look as if I were challenging my husband.
I thought of leaving the marriage or expressing how I feel, and then I chose to express myself first. I was afraid of what my in-laws would say should they hear it, but then I exercised my freedom and spoke my mind respectfully, and that was how the whole nightmare became a victory to this date.
When I look back, I could see how much the society placed certain expectations on us when it comes to handling marriages, but I still had the freedom to express how I feel regardless of society's expectations.
All these instances are why I believe that free will exists even in a society with rules and structure; it just depends on how we live by it. Personally, I believe that free will doesn't mean there are no rules; it's simply how we choose to live even in the presence of rules in our society.
Even though we won't be free from repercussions, we are free to take some routes.
Overall, society can somehow have influence in some certain decisions we make as humans, but they can't completely control how we choose to move around in our daily life activities.
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