Free Will in Life

A week or so back we discussed Free Will and I found it to be something that still makes me think. I keep wondering how many things in my life, which I believe I do with free will, are really determined. For example, I have studied for every test I have taken since beginning school. Our discussion made me question whether I really had the choice to do that extra work or not. If so, why did I choose to do so? The idea that everything that we do is preconceived and predetermined makes me think that even considering free will is a bit ridiculous. I have found myself wondering why we ever thought in the first place that we had the free will to do school work, have a job, or function in society. It would seem as though free will is merely a social construct; it is something we believe we have when in actuality we do not.

It is also interesting to think of things like this from a deterministic point of view, which in this respect seems to make more sense. It would seem as though those feelings or preconceived actions are more easily understood as being something determined. Perhaps we as humans are determined to follow in the path of what we know we are obligated to do, what is right (right in the sense that passing in homework and studying is a good habit that we are conditioned to know to have positive results.)

I really enjoyed the conversation about this we had the week before; however, I do feel as if there is much more on this subject that can be explored.