One of the most vexing philosophical questions is whether or not human beings have free will.
On the one hand, we certainly seem to have the ability to make choices. While what I decide to do with my life feels influenced by outside factors, it does feel like I am the one ultimately making the decision.
On the other hand, huge swaths of scientific evidence seem to undermine the idea of free choices.
Can Choice Exist in a Scientific World?
My own belief is one of compatibilism. This view argues that, even if we do end up living in a completely materialistic and deterministic universe, something like free will does exist.
While I don’t like the term “free will” for the baggage it represents, I do believe it is a folk psychological concept that none the less has enormous utility. Believing that something like choices exist in the world is enormously useful, and that as a model for human behavior they work extraordinarily well.
Choice as a Higher-Level Phenomenon
Choices, I would like to argue, are like links, and the act of choosing is like clicking a link. It is a complex process that contains many other processes, which themselves are not choices!
This is why I take issue with many working in neuroscience claiming that detailed examinations of the brain, and unusual experimental setups somehow are evidence that people don’t routinely make choices in their everyday lives.
The Anatomy of a Choice
The challenge right now is that with our incomplete understanding of psychology and neuroscience we are not in the position of the computer scientist when understanding linking behavior. We can’t go from the atom up and figure out exactly what constitutes a choice, versus an unconscious action.
