Free will is an illusion.
And why this matters, and matters deeply, is that the mistaken belief in free will hinders us from creating a more compassionate society, one free from angered moral judgments about each other’s behaviour – judgments that, in the absence of free will, are seen for what they truly are: indefensible.
Just give a moment’s thought to all the hateful, self-righteous vilification meted out by society rooted in the unquestioned and unchallenged belief that humans possess the ability to choose their behaviour and so are responsible for that behaviour:
- The drug addict who could have chosen not to get involved with drugs. Condemn her!
- The shoplifter who could have chosen not to steal. Vilify him!
- The abusive husband who could have chosen not to beat his wife and kids. Punish him!
- The murderer who could have chosen to live a law-abiding life. Execute him!
Such misplaced hate and moral outrage have tragic real-world implications:
In the early hours of 13 January 2021, convicted murderer, Lisa Montgomery, was executed by the U.S. government. Her lawyers had asked then-President, Donald Trump, for clemency, citing mental health issues brought on by a horrific childhood where physical, psychological, and sexual abuse at the hands of her mother and her mother’s boyfriends was routine. Clemency was denied.
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On 14 July 2020, convicted murderer, Daniel Lewis Lee, was executed by the U.S. government. Then Attorney General William Barr said, “Lee finally faced the justice he deserved.”
The justice he deserved? Really? Did he really deserve it? Only if we continue to mistakenly cling to the illusion that is free will.
Here’s the Problem
A moment’s reflection on the points that follow make it clear that we’re not the ones driving the car of our actions – we didn’t make them happen. Why? Because we couldn’t make them happen.
Free Will Problem #1: The Laws of Physics
Consider this: as the universe unfolds, what is permitted to happen in each subsequent moment is constrained by and driven by three factors:
- The current state of all that the universe is comprised of – all its atoms, all its energy, everything.
- The laws of physics that dictate what these components are able to do next within the strict bounds of these physical laws.
- Random quantum fluctuations that introduce a dash of uncertainty into the entire process.
Therefore, to posit the existence of free will is to assert that one of the following statements is true:
- That we have the ability to control these factors. False.
- That humans are not part of the universe and so answer to different physical laws. Also false.
- That we are part of the universe but that, through the use of our minds, we have the ability to override the laws of physics. Absurdly false.
Because we are obviously part of the universe, it necessarily follows that we are, indeed, subject to these three factors. Therefore, the only logical conclusion is that our behaviour, what we do in each subsequent moment, is also constrained by and driven by these factors, not by some magical mind power. There is no room for the existence of free will in this picture.
Free Will Problem #2: What Causes the Cause Behind a Behaviour?
Let’s say we have a thought about having a coffee. But a thought is nothing more than a biochemical reaction happening in our brain. Therefore, in order to even have that thought, a whole chain reaction of biochemical events has to first occur in our brain to create it.
But who exactly initiates that chain reaction? It couldn’t be us because we – just now – had that thought about having a coffee.
In order to have initiated the chain reaction of biochemical events leading to the creation of that thought about having a coffee we would first have had to have had a thought about having a thought about having a coffee.
But, in order to have a thought about having a thought about having a coffee, we would first have had to have had a thought about that thought as well!
You see the problem here?! There is no possible way for us to be the prime mover behind our thoughts – it’s simply physically impossible. There is no room for the existence of free will in this picture.
“You can do what you decide to do – but you cannot decide what you will decide to do.”
Sam Harris – “Free Will“
“What is more likely, that thinking drives biological activity or that biological activity drives thinking? And if you believe the former, what exactly is it that manifests the thinking? Or does such thinking simply spring fully formed out of thin air with no prior causes? Does this sound even remotely plausible? No, clearly it does not. Ipso facto, free will is an illusion.”
Anonymous
Problem #3: All Thoughts and Actions Arise from Gooey Brain Stuff
When we make the apparent decision to pick up a pencil, that thought obviously takes place inside our brain; neurons fire, biochemicals are released, energy is made available to drive it all, etc., etc..
But here’s the thing – we can’t consciously control any of these things – they just happen; just like we don’t consciously control the pumping of our heart or the functioning of our kidneys.
Consider this. Go and observe the antics of a squirrel. Is he working through his well-considered to-do list for the day as he scampers around? Of course not. We attribute a squirrel’s actions entirely to instinct, its behaviour controlled and dictated entirely by its biology.
So what anatomical feature is it in humans that supposedly endows us with the ability to control our biology – the gooey stuff of the brain – through the force of free will?
Of course, there is no such anatomical feature. All mammalian brains share the same basic structural features (hardly a surprise given our shared evolutionary ancestry).
If free will exists then it must necessarily follow that there is a part of our brain that stands separate and apart from the rest of it in order to assert control over that other part. But no such part exists.
This point is adroitly made by Dr. Robert Sapolsky of Stanford University in his wonderful book, “Behave – The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst“:
“Here’s how I’ve always pictured mitigated free will:
There’s the brain – neurons, synapses, neurotransmitters, receptors, brain-specific transcription factors, epigenetic effects, gene transpositions during neurogenesis.
Aspects of brain function can be influenced by someone’s prenatal environment, genes and hormones, whether their parents were authoritative or their culture egalitarian, whether they witnessed violence in childhood, when they had breakfast. It’s the whole shebang, all of this book.
And then, separate from that, in a concrete bunker tucked away in the brain, sits a little man (or woman, or ungendered individual), a homunculus, at a control panel. And the homunculus sits there controlling behaviour. A homunculus in your brain, but not of it, operating independently of the material rules of the universe that constitute modern science.”
Needless to say, no such homunculus exists. Once again, there is no room for the existence of free will in this picture.
Directly Experiencing the Absence of Free Will
For the next five minutes pay careful attention to your actions and note how many of them, if any, are the direct result of your conscious intervention.
For example, you bring your hand to your face to scratch an itch. Did you first think, “Gee, I’ve got an itchy spot on the left side of my nose. I think I’ll raise my arm two feet, three inches, move my hand within 2.5 inches of my face, and then move my index finger (but definitely not my thumb or other fingers) to scratch that spot; but I’ll be sure to only apply a quarter pound of pressure and, oh yes, avoid using too much finger nail as I don’t wish to draw blood.”
Of course not!
And another example. You’re sitting in a chair and suddenly shift your butt slightly to the left. Did you consciously think, “Gee, I’m feeling a bit of discomfort under the right side of my buttocks. I think I’ll shift my entire body a quarter inch to the left (but definitely not half an inch) to relieve the pressure.”
No! Never crossed your mind! It just happened, all on its own, and your only role was that of passive observer of your behaviour.
Both examples, and many more easily uncovered through careful observation, illustrate my point – we mistakenly assume we are the authors of our behaviour when, in fact, we are nothing more than the observers of that behaviour.
Yes, we’re certainly adept at coming up with convincing stories after the fact to explain and justify why we did what we just did but, in reality, we don’t have the slightest clue!
“We have ways of retrospectively telling stories about our actions as though the actions were always our idea.”
“When one part of the brain makes a choice, other parts quickly invent a story to explain why.”
“Hidden programs drive actions, and the left hemisphere makes justifications. This idea of retrospective storytelling suggests that we come to know our own attitudes and emotions, at least partially, by inferring them from observations of our own behaviour.”
Dr. David Eagleman, “Incognito – The Secret Lives of the Brain”
The Basis for a Better World
Because free will is an illusion, it naturally follows that:
- We don’t get to choose our behaviour; it’s molded by life experiences over which we have no choice and driven by inaccessible neuronal subroutines over which we have no control. In all animals but ourselves we call it instinct. Seems a tad arrogant on our part, don’t you think?
- Since we don’t get to choose our behaviour, we cannot be held responsible for our behaviour.
- And since we can’t be held responsible for our behaviour, we shouldn’t be judged for our behaviour.
With free will exposed for what it is – an illusion – the foundations underpinning so much of the world’s hate, moral outrage, and cries for retribution utterly crumble.
And once we see the innocence behind each other’s actions we make much-needed room for compassion, caring, and understanding to arise – the basis for a better world for us all.
“Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.”
Pema Chodron, Buddhist nun and author
So, the Criminals Go Free Do They!!!
Of course not. Society still has to be protected from dangerous individuals by locking them safely away. Those who can be rehabilitated are helped to do so. Those who are incapable of rehabilitation are warehoused for life.
But this is all done with respect, compassion, caring, and understanding. In such an enlightened society as this we no longer blame criminals for being who they are or for what they did. After all, they could no more have chosen not to commit their crime than you could have chosen not to take that last piece of chocolate cake. In the absence of free will there is no place for hate, vengeance, or retribution.
“What does it mean to say that rapists and murderers commit their crimes of their own free will? If this statement means anything it must be that they could have behaved differently. They could have resisted the impulse to do so – with the universe, including their brains, in precisely the same state it was in at the moment they committed their crimes. But the moment we catch sight of the stream of causes that precede their conscious decisions, reaching back into childhood and beyond, their culpability begins to disappear.”
“I think that losing the sense of free will has only improved my ethics – by increasing my feelings of compassion and forgiveness.”
“Once we recognize that even the most terrifying predators are, in a very real sense, unlucky to be who they are, the logic of hating them begins to unravel.”
Sam Harris
So, We Can Never Hope to Better Ourselves?
Once again, of course not. Human behaviour is influenced by both nature and nurture – our biology and our life experiences.
While we can’t do much about our biology, most of us (but not all – more on this below) have the ability to influence our life experiences. For example, I used to be very judgmental of others’ behaviour; until I was introduced to Mindfulness by one of my clients.
The more I learned about it the less judgmental and the more compassionate and understanding I became. I literally changed myself for the better (to be more precise, I influenced changes to my brain through the mechanism of neural plasticity, for the better).
But I can’t, and don’t, take any credit for this. What made my brain conducive to neuronal restructuring? I don’t know. Why did I find Mindfulness study interesting? I don’t know. Where did I get the determination to delve into it as deeply as I have? I don’t know. What made me want to start a blog about it to share its hopeful message widely? I don’t know.
And here’s the thing – I can never know. All I can rest my hat on is that some combination of nature and nurture gifted me with the ability to better myself. And for this I am thankful, but I certainly can’t take credit for it.
And then there are those unfortunate individuals for whom nature and nurture have conspired to stunt their desire and/or ability to steer themselves toward a better path in life.
Do such individuals deserve punishment for factors over which they have no control? Of course not. I don’t deserve any credit for my good fortune, and they don’t deserve to be faulted for their misfortune.
Did Daniel Lewis Lee get the justice he deserved?
I hope by now, in light of everything we’ve covered in this post (as well as these two previous posts (here and here)), the answer is abundantly clear:
“Compassion, always” is our only defensible, and sensible, way forward.
Warmest wishes,
Rob @ Living a Mindful Life
Sources (and highly-suggested reading)
- Free Will – by Sam Harris
- Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain – by Dr. Daniel Eagleman
- The Illusion of Conscious Will – by Dr. Daniel Wegner
- Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst – by Dr. Robert Sapolsky
- For the law, neuroscience changes nothing and everything – by Dr. Joshua Greene and Dr. Jonathan Cohen
“We experience willing a walk in the park, winding a clock, or smiling at someone, and the feeling keeps our notion of ourselves as persons intact. Our sense of being a conscious agent who does things comes at a cost of being technically wrong all the time. The feeling of doing is how it seems, not what it is – but that is as it should be. All is well, because the illusion makes us human.”
Dr. Daniel Wegner
“You and I seem to sense first and act second. But in your brain, sensing actually comes second. Your brain is wired to initiate your actions before you’re aware of them. The brain is a predicting organ. It launches your next set of actions based on your past experience and current situation, and it does so outside of your awareness.”
Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett, “Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain“
“In Chapter 16 I will argue that it is wrong to think that understanding must lead to forgiveness – mainly because I think that a term like “forgiveness”, and others related to criminal justice (e.g. “evil”, “soul”, “volition”, and “blame”) are incompatible with science and should be discarded.”
Dr. Robert Sapolsky
“We need to set aside the notion that our choices and decisions and actions have their ultimate origin within each of us, that they are brought into being by our independent agencies, that they emerge from deliberations that stand beyond the reach of physical law. We need to recognize that although the sensation of free will is real, the capacity to exert free will – the capacity for the human mind to transcend the laws that control physical progression – is not.”
“To sum up: We are physical beings made of large collections of particles governed by nature’s laws. Everything we do and everything we think amounts to motions of those particles. ….. And since all observations, experiments, and valid theories confirm that particle motion is fully controlled by mathematical rules, we can no more intercede in this lawful progression of particles than we can change the value of pi.”
Dr. Brian Greene, “Until the End of Time”
“You want so desperately to believe that you determine things in your life, yet that belief has no true substance. It floats like a ghost in a mind machine forged by ancient evolutionary forces. You were as helpless in deciding to buy this book as I was in writing it.”
“Free will is, sadly, an illusion – a mirage.”
Dr. Adrian Raine, “The Anatomy of Violence“
“Let’s first be clear about what free will is not. Free will is not an intervention in the flow of physical systems in the universe, more specifically in the brain, making things happen that wouldn’t otherwise happen. This “spooky” free will invokes Cartesian dualism, demands freedom from the laws of cause and effect, and offers nothing of explanatory value in return.”
“And when making the tea, it certainly seemed to me that I could have made coffee instead. But I didn’t want coffee, I wanted tea, and since I can’t choose my wants, I made tea. Given the precise state of the universe at that time, which includes the state of my body and brain, all of which have prior causes ….. I could not have done otherwise.”
Dr. Anil Seth, author of “Being You – A New Science of Consciousness“