OT: Some of mankind's toughest questions

[Kamog]

Well, I like to think that we have free will. It certainly seems like we have free will, that we have the power of choice in our thoughts and actions. I don't like the idea that everything is predetermined because then it seems like our lives don't really matter. If everything is predetermined, what's the point of trying to improve one's situation, working towards goals, trying to achieve things? But free will could very well be an illusion, as people like to point out.

I can say, "hey, I can choose whether to pick up this pen in front of me, or choose not to, so I have free will."

Then the other guy could say, "You only think you have a choice, but ultimately, you did the thing that you were supposed to and the free will is an illusion."

Then the related discussion is on whether or not we have souls. If our thoughts are merely chemical reactions in our brains, we don't have free will, because the chemical reactions must follow the laws of biochemistry and physics, and can only go a certain way. It doesn't make sense to say that chemistry follows the exact physical laws everywhere else in the world but not inside brains. Debating whether we have souls or not is hard, just like arguing whether god exists or not, because you can't see or measure it and there's no concrete evidence one way or another.