what is free will and why you probably don't have it.

because you have animal origins, you like them have natural instincts. for instance, you are naturally territorial like many animals. in remote parts of the world that were not "civilized" until modern day, it was dangerous to wander outside of your tribe's territory or chances are you got killed. also look at street gangs and how they rule their "turf" and have similar consequences for being caught in someone else's territory. along with your territorialness is your jealousies and possessiveness. don't we all get jealous and possessive? there are a number of things we do because we are naturally programmed to do them.

then there is upbringing. how many things do we do that we were taught as children either directly or indirectly. how many people turn out to act exactly like their parents did? if your parents follow a particular religion chances are better than average that you will too. if they hate a certain group of people chances are that you will too. if they have coffee in the morning, the chances are that you will too. it's natural and makes sense that you do what you saw growing up. animals learn from their parents by mimicking them and thus survive.

but is doing and thinking things because your instincts and upbringing make you, considered free will? i don't think so. in order to have free will you would need to make decisions based on logic and reasoning and not on tradition and "feelings". this is of course difficult if you don't know anything beyond what you naturally know from feelings and tradition. if i was never given the information that punching someone back for punching me was something i don't have to do, then why would i ever not punch that person back? from where would i conjure that notion since my parents did it and my feelings tell me i should punch them back? it takes knowledge beyond what you are usually given to have free will. and even beyond the knowledge, think of the raw animal instinct that compels you to hit that person back. how can you even overcome such a powerful influence?

any time you use "feelings" as a means to make a decision you are not using free will. you were programmed to feel that way. look at all the people duped by their feelings when it comes to relationships. "we have nothing in common and he beats me but i feel that i love him." it is subtler than that most of the time though. look at all the people consumed with professional athletics. a lot are just caught up in their wantingness to belong to a group and also to showcase their territorial claim and others were influenced by tradition or both.

any time you use tradition as a means to make a decision you are not using free will. what your parents did is what their parents did and is what you do and so on. that is not based on logic and reason. you did not make that decision, some ancestor did. a lot of relationships go sour because of this reason too. some child saw his dad beat his mom and now he beats his wife. it is only natural. my dad yelled at me so now i will yell at my children. it takes something beyond what you were naturally given to overcome that type of influence.

so if i don't have free will then how do i get it? how do i possibly get beyond everything i was told and get beyond my powerful instinctual forces. well for one, many people don't want to do this. people like being like everyone else. they like taking after dear old dad. they enjoy following the feelings that they get. they like to be told what to do.

free will can obtained when you can suppress your natural instincts and the tendencies you developed in your upbringing in favor of logic and reasoning. you would have to realize why you are thinking something and see what influenced it and impose the guidelines of reason and logic on it. does it make sense is what you need to ask. you have to be able to stop yourself in the middle of a bubbling rage and question whether you should be so enraged and what caused you to be that way and to realize rage does not solve anything. you have to study these things or else how can you recognize them when they occur. you have to question your everyday activities and wonder why you wear uncomfortable shoes when a more comfortable pair would make more sense. why do you apply colored wax to your face i.e. makeup? why do you yell at someone to get them to perform better when you know being kind and encouraging would get better results? everything you do, think, and feel has to be scrutinized or else how do you know it is based on sound reasoning. it is not easy to obtain free will but you can achieve it partially on those things you do monitor and maybe little by little it will be everything.