ARE WE REALLY FREE OR JUST AFRAID OF CONSEQUENCES ___WEEK 242 EPISODE TWO
Do we really have free will?
At first I thought, of course we have free will. I can choose what to wear, what to eat, where to walk to. Nobody is forcing me.... But when I thought about it deeper, I realized it is not that simple...
Can we really do as we want when we know that the consequences are what is stopping us?
For example, I am a student in UNIZIK. I have free will to decide not to go to class, not to write my exam. Nobody will tie my hands. But I know if I do that, I will fail, I will repeat the year, my parents will be disappointed. So because I am afraid of the consequence, I go to class. Did I really choose freely, or did the fear of consequence choose for me?
Same thing in our society. We say we have freedom of speech, but we all know there are things you cannot say because you know what will happen. You can insult someone online, but you know you might be arrested or dragged. So you keep quiet. Is that free will or is it just self-control because of deterrent?
I was discussing this with my friend yesterday when I took my Wednesday Walk to the statue side. I told him, look at this statue of Nnamdi Azikiwe. He fought for our independence because he wanted us to have free will as a country. But even as a country, are we really free? We are free on paper, but our choices are limited by poverty, by bad leaders, by systems that were built before we were born....
I think we have free will, but it is not 100% free.... It is like we are inside a big compound. You are free to walk anywhere inside the compound, but you cannot jump the fence....The fence is law, culture, religion, family expectations, money, and fear of what people will say.
If there is a deterrent from doing certain things, can we still say we have free will? I would say yes, but it is a conditioned free will.
We still make the choice, but the choice is influenced. The deterrent does not remove the will, it only makes one option more expensive....You can still steal, but you know you might go to prison, so you decide not to. The will was there, you just weighed it.
For me, free will is not about having no consequences. It is about having the ability to choose even when you know the consequences.....A person who knows he will be punished and still does what he believes is right, that person is exercising true free will.
So do we really have free will? My answer is: Yes, we do, but it is not abbsolute. We are free to chooose,but we are not freee from the resullt of our choice....And maybe that is what makees us humman.
What do you think? Do you believe your choices are truly yours?
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IMAGE USED IS META AI
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