Yes, We Definitely Have Free Will

Chapter 8.4: Final proofs

Why this book | Title Page | Table of Contents
Preface | Introduction
PART 1
Chapter 1 (1.1) (1.2) | Chapter 2 (2.1) (2.2) (2.3) | Chapter 3 (3.1) (3.2) (3.3) (3.4) (3.5) (3.6)
PART 2
Chapter 4 (4.1) (4.2) (4.3) (4.4) (4.5) | Chapter 5 (5.1) (5.2) (5.3) (5.4) (5.5) (5.6) (5.7) (5.8) (5.9)
Chapter 6 (6.1) (6.2) (6.3) (6.4) (6.5)
PART 3
Chapter 7 (7.1) (7.2) (7.3) (7.4) (7.5) (7.6)
Chapter 8 (8.1) (8.2) (8.3) (8.4)
Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14
PART 4
Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 |
PART 5
Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Conclusion
Appendix | Works Cited

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Note: This is an installment of The Freedom Scale: An Accurate Measure of Left and Right. See here for installments of The Distributed Nation: A Plan for Human Independence.

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8.4 — What Makes Us Us?

• Free Will

  • Objections

    • Nature, nurture, and choice

    • The Choice Is Yours

    • Why does this matter?

    • A final proof

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Nature, nurture, and choice

Who we are, what we like, and how we act are the result of a complex interplay of factors. Our genes; how we are raised as children; the context in which we live…all these things play a role in the sort of people we become. In spite of strong opinions and no end of scientific study, we do not yet have a dispositive answer as to how much each of these factors contributes to each individual’s personality. Exploration will no doubt continue for the foreseeable future.

Choice is always with us, but various scenarios can reduce the range of choices a person is likely to make. Extreme conditioning during childhood can make certain patterns far more likely in adulthood. Genetic conditions or predispositions may pave a well-worn path towards particular behaviors. Specific circumstances may severely limit one’s range of possible actions, making certain choices far more likely than others…

• A boy who was abused as a child is more likely to abuse his own children later in life. His experiences as a child play a role in who he becomes, and can have an influence on his choices.

• People born in communities with generational poverty and dysfunction have a much steeper climb. The pressures to go wrong are enormous, and it can take a strong act of will to overcome those pressures.

• An individual’s level of intelligence—some of which is heritable and some of which is environmental—will play a role in the kinds of choices he or she makes at any one moment.

• A child born in Ramallah and raised to hate Israelis may one day become a suicide bomber. If that same child were adopted at birth and raised by an Australian couple in Adelaide, he probably would not. Context can influence the choices we make.

• There is mounting evidence that changes in environmental circumstances can produce epigenetic changes, thus blending nature and nurture in ways that influence behavior and choices.¹

Added to this complex stew is another ingredient: the fact that though no one can choose for another, we can certainly influence one another’s choices. Sometimes, our influence can be fairly innocuous, and constrained to a particular moment: Joe isn’t sure what he wants to do, so Marie convinces him to come with her to the store, to keep her company. No big deal.

However, we can also have a pernicious, long-term impact on the choices of others. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in child-rearing…