this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2026
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Free always needs a qualifier... Free from what? Free from other people, for now... Free from physics? No.
It's interesting, because some people are doomed to say, be evil. But that still counts as free will, even though they literally can't just choose their way out of it.
So now, that means the punishments, and torments we put on those people for being evil, they can do nothing to actually prevent.
So now we have another interesting idea: what's the difference between putting down a bad person for doing something bad, and a "bad" person, for "being" bad. Like say, disabled people, people of a skin color you don't like, country origin...
Neither of them really get to choose, you can argue now that skin color is free will.
Of course, I don't really want this to happen.
I consider free will to be the concept that whenever you make a choice A/B you as in a subjective consciousness have the power to decide any way and are not bound by a deterministic system to always give one output for the same input.
For example if we were to decide the universe is deterministic except for the conscious beings that are humans it would mean the universe looks exactly like it does in all timelines after it's start but those timelines diverge once free will enters, since the deterministic system gets random input from free will.
So now I'm at the mercy of quantum physics. I would honestly just get rid of my free will, and always do the right thing (within my pussy-self's limits).
So free from physics
basically. well you see like you said you can define some higher order that could exert some control over your will and that could be physics or something metaphysical. in case of some religions that is a devine force, while others say devine forces relegate the power of free will to humans and in most cases they don't interfere with the decision making processes of people. i would say if any sort of higher order retains perpetual control over your decision making process that calls the concept of free will into question. if you believe your brain is the sole source of your decisions and is bound by deterministic physical processes then that's not free will in it's purest form. you could say it's free will in the sense that no other being of the same level can accurately predict or manipulate your choices but i would say that only grants the illusion of free will.
i personally believe that the source of consciousness and as such free will is metaphysical in nature and is not generally manipulated by any process, so it's free will as per my definition.
edited in everything after 'basically' because i decided i had more to say