This
is a topic that I’ve devoted a lot of time and thought to, and I’m going to be
honest:
I don’t think I believe in free will.
That’s
right. Mom, Dad, I think I’m. . .
. . .a determinist.
I
say “I think” because I believe that we as people definitely have the power to
do what we want—we just don’t have the power to want what we want. Allow me to explain--
Most
philosophers think of determinism in terms of all things that occur in the universe,
but because my purpose is to combine philosophy with psychology so as to better
understand people, I’m going to focus primarily on determinism and what it
means in terms of human behavior. There
are thousands of details that go into explaining exactly what determinism is,
all using physics and metaphysics and the laws of the universe and whatnot. But for now I’ll discuss the concept in the
way that I’ve interpreted it, which is to say in the simplest terms possible.
Let’s
start with this: it is impossible for you to think a completely random
thought. Yes, it may be random in that it’s
irrelevant to what’s currently happening or what we’re currently talking
about. But it’s not a purely random thought. This is because of one simple fact:
The brain needs input to make output.
If
it is impossible for your brain to think of a random thought, how can you
possibly make yourself do a random action?
Make a random decision? Though it
may feel random, it can’t be, simply because of the way our minds were made.
Now,
keep this concept in mind throughout these next few paragraphs. . .
Allow
me to make a slight digression to discuss two forces that shape our lives. Personality is the result of two basic ingredients: nature and nurture. Your nature is the qualities you were born
with, meaning you brain chemistry, genetics, etc. If your parents are naturally intelligent
people, then you are likely to be a naturally intelligent person as well,
because you have inherited that from your parents.
Hormones are factors as well—testosterone can make a person more
aggressive, oxytocin can make a person more clingy, etc. Chemicals in the brain can make us
overeaters, more optimistic, more susceptible to depression. . . the list is
endless. Your nature is a very
significant influence in who you are and the decisions you make, and has been
in action since the second you were born.
Then
we have nurture, which is basically anything you experience from the second you're born and onward. Almost anything about
us, from our irrational fears to our weird sexual fetishes, are due to what we’ve
experienced, mainly as children. The
second you emerge from the womb, you are not in control of your environment or
of what happens to you. Your brain is
simply too young to be capable of real decision-making, but it begins almost immediately
taking psychological cues about what the world is like and how to be a part of it.
So
let’s circle back to that “The brain needs input to make output” idea. Every decision you make, starting when you’re
just a baby, is not random. It is the
result of the only two ingredients you are made of: your nature and your nurture.
The older you get, the more experiences you will have had and the more
decisions you will have made, all influencing what goes on in your brain when
you make any decision.
But
why should you care? Well, let me tell
you why I started caring.
Think
of someone you hate. That person who
just seems to be all of your pet peeves bundled up into one sad disgrace for a
human being.
Now,
whether you believe in determinism or not, you can’t deny that that person is
at least partially the result of many factors that have been completely out of
their control since birth. If they’re
mean, unintelligent, self-obsessed—all their qualities can be traced back to
their brain chemistry and their experiences.
Every time we judge somebody, we have to realize that that person is the
way that they are for very specific reasons.
They were born with a completely different set of genes than us and have
had completely different experiences than us, leading them to do and believe completely
different things.
And
why don’t we like this person? Well,
because we too have different genes and different experiences that led us to
form certain opinions that caused us to dislike certain traits in other
people. We can’t help it if we don’t
like these traits, but other people can’t help it if they have them.
Maybe
you’re still a steadfast believer in free will and the idea that the decisions
we make are 100% up to us and not predetermined by forces beyond our
control. I respect that and can’t tell
you that you’re wrong, because we really have no idea and no way to prove
either concept. However, though the idea
of Determinism may not succeed in swaying your ideas on free will, I think it’s
still an important concept when analyzing people and their behaviors. It makes it easier to withhold judgment,
increase empathy, and be more open-minded while delving into questions about
why people are the way that they are.
