Do we really have free will?

Free will! Yes, it is an amusing discussion. I love pink in all it's shades. Is it an original "free" like or does it have to do with all the pink things my mother, grandmother and aunts got me. Is it because of the positive associations with happy events in my childhood. Pavlov, the Russian scientist writes about conditioned reflex. Mice in a maze are rewarded with food when they turn left, and stung with a barb when they turn right. Then when the food is switched with the barb, the mice continue to turn left and get stung repeatedly. This he called "conditioned reflex". Most of our actions are similarly influenced by our experience, knowledge gleaned from books, movies and relationships. Nelson, the great British naval captain is reported to have admonished one of his ratings by saying, "Trust in God. Keep your gunpowder dry." Probably more than one half of the 6 billion people on earth find it easier to take the easier first part and expect that the gunpowder will stay dry by divine intervention. Then there is the cross section of the global community that deals with soothsayers, astrology, palmistry, various forms of occult and to try and get a glimpse of what is "pre determined". Hinduism and Buddhism propagate the view that in the cycle of re-birth, actions in the current life will determine the nature and circumstances of your rebirth. I do not know about rebirth, but if I am grumpy, petty and mean to people, I will receive grumpy, petty and mean responses from most people. But one simple thing I know is that if we do not do the grocery the whole family will have to rely on unhealthy take-outs for the week. There is a simple action - effect correlation. We know in advance what the oucome of not doing the grocery is. So the desire for specific outcomes determines our actions and attachment to outcomes in effect precludes free thought. That is why I think many of us are not really able to exercise free will.

Oh, we have free will. God wants to work in our life and have complete control so he can do whatever he wants with our life, but it is our choice (and we do have free will.)

I believe we can make our own decisions. Some are influenced by family and friends. Others are pressured, and others are not. The environment and genetics do affect our lives....and can influence some of our decisions. I think we are as free as we can be.

I believe that we have our agency. W can make our own decisions but we must remember that these choices have consequenses. Other peoples choices impact our lives as well as our own. For instance, A man gets drunk, gets behind the wheel, drives and hits your car, and someone is killed. The choices that the man made does affect you. I belive that Heaven Father knows our personality. He knows what we are capable. Each of us are probably capable of much more than we are doing. We decide what time to get up and what we will do when we get up. If you are a parent, it is easier to understand. You know what your child is capable of. Yet sometimes the child makes choices by which they do things that are way below what they are capable of. You cant make their deciions for them. You let them make their own choices and learn from their mistakes because you love them. Heavenly Father is the same way. He knows we are capable of doing better but he lets us make our decisions and learn from our mistakes. We receive blessings according to our choices.

I have argued this question so many times... but it never seems to bore me. I honestly believe that every person has free will. By choosing to believe that they are just bound by fate, they are choosing with free will. Believing in God is free will, drinking coffee or water, that is free will. Choosing to marry is free will, choosing to have children is free will. Here is my thought on "predestiny." IF everyones lives are already planned out, and someone has chosen each answer for us, then wouldn't that make us no more than a bunch of characters playing out a simple story? And if that is what we are, who is watching?