Do you believe in free will? It is a popular belief that everything we think, say, and do is a result of our own free will.

I recently reread the book Free Will by Sam Harris. I read the book a few years ago and decided to revisit it because I’m at a new juncture in my life. The book was published in 2012 and is only 66 pages long, making it a quick but impactful read. Sam Harris effectively combines neuroscience and psychology to argue that free will is an illusion, despite our strong belief that we all have free will. As Harris explains: “The popular conception of free will seems to rest on two assumptions: (1) that each of us could have behaved differently than we did in the past, and (2) that we are the conscious source of most of our thoughts and actions in the present.”

The belief in free will influences almost every part of human life. It’s difficult to think about law, politics, religion, intimate relationships, morality, feelings of regret, or personal success without assuming that every individual is the real origin of their thoughts and actions. However, the evidence suggests that free will is an illusion. As Harris explains:

Consider what it would take to actually have free will. You would need to be aware of all the factors that determine your thoughts and actions, and you need to have complete control over those factors. But there is a paradox here that vitiates the very notion of freedom—for what would influence the influences? More influences? None of these adventitious mental states are the real you. You are not controlling the storm, and you are not lost in it. You are the storm.

Harris presents a strong argument against free will. He contends that this perspective on the human mind does not weaken ethics or reduce the significance of societal and political freedom. Instead, it could bring about a change in how we approach important questions about life.

“No one has free will until they are an adult, and by then the choices that were made for them, have already set them on a course that gives limited freedom in the choices to be made.”

J.D. Stroube, author and artist

Bound by Circumstance

I grew up surrounded by adults whose decisions and actions left me feeling perplexed and disappointed. Throughout my childhood, I often wondered why the adults in my life weren’t more responsible and considerate when making choices. As I came to understand the concepts of morals and ethics, I became even more convinced that I did not want to emulate the behaviour of my adult influences when I became an adult and had “free will.”

If Harris is correct in his belief that free will is an illusion, then the choices and actions of the adult influencers in my life were not their free will, any more than my own. My mother, while intelligent, beautiful, and sensitive on the outside, was an angry, traumatized, and diffident young girl on the inside. If she truly had free will, I don’t believe she would have made the same choices for her life or mine. Consequently, I wouldn’t have been exposed to harmful situations and endured trauma, which in turn led to my own poor and self-destructive choices and actions. These events have haunted and controlled me for years, and I believe they were certainly not of my own free will.

Why were some of my teachers verbally, emotionally, and sometimes physically abusive to me? I was a shy, quiet, and sensitive child from a single-parent home living in an underprivileged neighbourhood. I figured that I was an easy target and, in many ways, the perfect scapegoat. It wasn’t until I was nine years of age that a teacher showed me genuine kindness and encouragement. Up until that point, I had assumed all teachers were callous and disliked me. Another thing that made this teacher different was her young age. She was from a different generation than my previous teachers, who had little patience or tolerance for the children who seemingly didn’t meet their expectations. Chances are, these teachers were raised by strict, harsh parents and they inherited the same principles when it came to disciplining children, likely not even conscious of the idea of free will.

“There have always been arguments showing that free will is an illusion: some based on hard physics, others based on pure logic.”

Ted Chiang, writer

My Illusion of Free Will

I’ve become keenly aware of my lack of free will when it comes to my thoughts. Before reading Harris’ book, I had suspected that I wasn’t completely in control of my thoughts and actions. I have experienced maladaptive daydreaming behaviour since I was a child. Of course, I didn’t know what it was called until recent years, and there is still no official method of diagnosis. If you’re not familiar with this behaviour, you’re not alone. It is a relatively new term used to describe people who frequently get lost in vivid and detailed daydreams, often as a form of escapism. Having experienced it most of my life, I can tell you that it takes active discipline, not free will, to keep it under control.

If I had free will, I would choose to stay in the present—listen to that long story, stay focused during that business meeting, and pay attention to where I am going without getting lost—not get lost in a daydream of a fictitious scenario.

Free Willy-Nilly

By accepting that free will is an illusion, we may feel relieved from the weight of absolute responsibility for our actions. Understanding the complex interplay of genetics, environment, and unconscious processes doesn’t diminish the depth of human experience; instead, it encourages us to embrace empathy, understanding, and the profound complexities of our existence. Perhaps, by acknowledging this illusion, we can develop a deeper compassion for ourselves and others as we navigate the intricate web of causality that shapes our lives.