• Question: do you believe in free will?

    Asked by anon-304046 on 7 Dec 2021.
    • Photo: Emily McDougal

      Emily McDougal answered on 12 Nov 2021:

      Knowing what I know about how the brain works, I do believe that we all have the capacity for free will. Studies have shown that we can see the brain planning out our actions before we do them! This might seem like these decisions are not in our control, but actually it shows how amazing our brains are at learning from experience and getting ready to act before we have conciously made the decision to act! I hope that answers your question somewhat – it is a very complex and interesting topic. I am sure that philosophers would be better at debating it than me!

    • Photo: Alex Baxendale

      Alex Baxendale answered on 12 Nov 2021:

      I’m not 100% sure that I do, depending on your definition. The brain works by receiving inputs, and responding to them based on things that have been successful in the past; for things that are new it makes an ‘informed’ choice by trying to compare it to similar events, or using abstract thinking and imagination to determine what the outcome might be. We don’t really have any choice in any of this system, it’s all done for us and the output is what we consider to just be ‘us’. There are times where we get to make decisions where we feel in control of it and can believe it to be free will but it’s difficult to decide at what point is the decision we decide to make actually free or determined by our subconscious processing. We might decide to do something against what we normally do to prove that it is free will, but could it just be a decision to test out a new situation based off of informed choice – I’ve always said yes and X happens, I imagine saying no would cause Y but let’s test that theory out so I’m more informed.
      I don’t think we know quite enough to really give a proper answer, and it depends on how you define free will. I’m not 100% confident in saying I believe in it, but I’m not ruling out that it’s possible. At the end of the day, I’m happy with who I am and the choices I’ve made seem to be playing out so I can’t really complain!

    • Photo: Caitlin Sorrell

      Caitlin Sorrell answered on 12 Nov 2021:

      What an interesting question! I believe that we do have free will. However, I think it is difficult for us to fully understand all the biopsychosocial layers that are influencing our decisions.
      You’ve probably heard about Milgram who conducted one of the most (in)famous experiments in social psychology. Milgram focused on how much the situation and environment impact on our behaviour. But it’s easy to forget that (depending on the condition) around 40% of people stood up to the experimenter and refused to continue. Kahnemahn talks about thinking fast and thinking slow – how our brains take short cuts and how we will respond to cues in predictable ways. But the reality is that we are also capable of thinking slow and resisting those cues.
      So for every paper that I have read that argues that we are governed by external forces, I see evidence of times when humans have defied those forces. Our free will may be constrained, but it is there for us to exercise.

    • Photo: James Bartlett

      James Bartlett answered on 15 Nov 2021:

      I’ve always found this debate a little funny as it gets more into philosophy than psychology. Some of the other answers have covered the science side, so I will focus on my own approach. For me, if we did not have free will, we would not be able to do anything about it anyway. So, I just believe in free will as I would not be able to do anything about it if I did not have free will 🙂

    • Photo: Natali Bozhilova

      Natali Bozhilova answered on 15 Nov 2021:

      It depends on the definition of free will. Personally, I see ‘free will’ as the ability to make an autonomous choice without interference of third parties. In that sense, I believe and do not believe in free will. (Sorry about the confusion).

      On one hand, we make choices every day without direct instructions and requests from anyone. On the other hand, we seem to be susceptible to unconscious and subconscious drives that govern our behaviours and influence from third parties. Additionally, we are never entirely independent from the world around us. Many of our life choices at any given time depend on something or someone else. For instance, we cannot organise a concert at the O2 arena during lockdown and cannot become a doctor without formal education or training.

      Having said that, I believe that we always have a number of options for most situations in life and free will might reflect choosing one of these options 🙂

    • Photo: Charlotte Griffin

      Charlotte Griffin answered on 17 Nov 2021:

      Honestly, I’m not sure that I do. There’s so much research out there to show how genetics and our environment produce behaviour that I’m not sure there’s any scope left for true free will. Both of these factors influence our conscious and subconscious processing, so we may not even be aware of the impact they have on our decision making. However, I do think we can still make choices – just that the options we can choose from are determined by our genetics and our environment.

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