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I can flip a coin every time I have an opportunity to make certain minor choices. Some of those choices will turn out to have major effects (my whole life chan

I can flip a coin every time I have an opportunity to make certain minor choices. Some of those choices will turn out to have major effects (my whole life changed once because the batteries were low on my Walkman and I tuned into the radio instead of playing a cassette tape like I otherwise would have). Most will not. The point is, I can do this, and I have. Other times I have chosen not to leave as much to chance. For all practical purposes, to me this indicates sufficient free will for me to comfortable believing I have it.

doboyy 7y ago
I agree that believing free-will exists can be advantageous when being confronted with choices and alternative timelines. Believing that you have no autonomy can lead to situations where you don't weigh different possibilties at a given moment in time. In general, it's... deflating? The problem for me is that there are an innumerable amount of solutions to any given choice. You have to narrow these down subconsciously. Tracing back all of the reasons why you didn't consider all these choices that were implicitly ruled out, for me, ends up at birth, and I'm pretty sure I didn't have a choice in being born.
- slfnflctd 7y ago
  > Tracing back all of the reasons why you didn't consider all these choices It likely varies a lot across individuals. For me personally, when I do this I see a whole lot of small choices made almost whimsically that led up to very large results. It came down to aesthetics a lot of the time. My values, relationships and knowledge were all inconsistent and in constant flux for many years, and when faced with analysis paralysis, how I forced a decision was often not discernably different from chance. As I get older, it appears my choices have more weight, but they paradoxically also seem more predetermined. Perhaps it's as simple as that we're more unpredictable in our youth.

doboyy 7y ago

I agree that believing free-will exists can be advantageous when being confronted with choices and alternative timelines. Believing that you have no autonomy can lead to situations where you don't weigh different possibilties at a given moment in time. In general, it's... deflating? The problem for me is that there are an innumerable amount of solutions to any given choice. You have to narrow these down subconsciously. Tracing back all of the reasons why you didn't consider all these choices that were implicitly ruled out, for me, ends up at birth, and I'm pretty sure I didn't have a choice in being born.

slfnflctd 7y ago
> Tracing back all of the reasons why you didn't consider all these choices It likely varies a lot across individuals. For me personally, when I do this I see a whole lot of small choices made almost whimsically that led up to very large results. It came down to aesthetics a lot of the time. My values, relationships and knowledge were all inconsistent and in constant flux for many years, and when faced with analysis paralysis, how I forced a decision was often not discernably different from chance. As I get older, it appears my choices have more weight, but they paradoxically also seem more predetermined. Perhaps it's as simple as that we're more unpredictable in our youth.