The Freedom in Acknowledging the Illusion of Free Will

You didn't really make the choice to read this, at least not consciously.  The choice was made for you subconsciously before it appeared in your conscious mind.  It turns out that what we normally think of as "Free Will" is an illusion, and for many people, that is a disconcerting thought. For me, it has meant forgiveness and freedom.

I won't bore you with the science, but I will give a couple quick examples.  The first is that even though you have 100 billion neurons in your brain, by monitoring less than 300 neurons, neuroscientists can predict what choice people are going to make between 2 buttons 80% of the time 7 seconds before the subjects are even aware of it. 

Second is that by monitoring hitters in baseball, neuroscientists have found that hitters decide to swing subconsciously ahead of time before they even realize they have "made a choice" to swing.  It just happens.

There is much, much more, but this is a blog, not a book.  For weeks I had the neuroscientist Sam Harris's book 'Free Will' resting unread on my Kindle before I built the courage to read it. I didn't want to read it.  I was fearful because something had happened in my life, and I didn't want to believe or be convinced that what had happened wasn't a result of free will.  

When I finished the book, not only was I convinced of the science, which says that what we do that looks like choice is really just a product of our genes, environment, and experiences, but our choices are made and then emerge from our subconscious in a way that creates an illusion that we have actually made a choice. Not only is the illusion of free will a reality, once you understand the science, it seems irrational to think of it any other way.

As Harris says, you could dismantle a psychopath particle by particle and rebuild them exactly the same way, but imagine them as you.  Essentially you would then be the same psychopath and would make the same "choices."

It doesn't mean that people should get away with murder.  They are a danger to society, and even though they are a product, they are who they are, free will or no free will.  The difference in thinking is that we now know they are the way they are for a reason, and that is where a new freedom arises for us.  

More specifically, once you understand this science, the chains that come along with hatred and the inability to forgive are busted away forever.  It's not that you forget what happened, but you begin to understand that they are the way they are for a reason and you are the way you are for a reason.  Yes, it's a complicated story about how any one person becomes who they are, but there is still a reason.

While it has always been easy for me to ignore and move on, the chains, stress, and anger were always there, lurking over everything I did and every "choice" I made.  By simply becoming aware of this fact of reality, my approach to life has changed.  Now, when I look at a person, no matter what they have done or how much I might disagree with them, I understand that they are the way they are for a reason, and I have the power to forgive them. Not for their sake, but for mine.  

For the first time in my life, I am able to forgive, and in forgiveness, there is freedom.

If you want to experience this freedom for yourself, then start here.