Free Will vs Determinism: A Simple Guide To Understand Your Own Mind and Choose How To Think

"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion." - Albert Campus

Each person has the freedom to make choices that are not determined or preordained by any external forces, destiny, or divine will.

Free Will asserts that you are capable of influencing your own actions, and hence your results, and thus are responsible for both the cause and effects of everything in life.

On the other hand…

The belief that all events, including moral choices, are determined completely by previously existing causes is determinism.

In a deterministic universe, everything that happens comes about as a result of something that happened before. If one knows all the preceding conditions and the laws that govern the universe, in theory, one could predict all future outcomes.

But is it really that simple?

More importantly, which one should you believe?

One of my core principles/code of operations in life is to always pick the narrative that places the power in my hand as opposed to the one that puts me in a powerless position.

And from that lens, free will seems like a clear winner in choosing how to think.

But if you ask the majority of people about how to think about life in general, they would choose to believe that fate is prewritten.

Why is that?

Before we dive deeper, an announcement.

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I Don’t Know What To Do With All This Freedom

I believe it’s the same reason why people prefer being led rather than lead.

Because…

Most people want others to have the burdens accompanying leadership.

Or in other words, most people do not want ownership/responsibility.

Or in other words, they do not want to face the consequences of their choices.

When people are confronted about not exercising their free will, they often present various objections.

Some of these beliefs/objections may be genuine, but mostly they are just excuses or defense mechanisms at best.

External Circumstances: "It's not my fault. My circumstances don't allow for it."

Upbringing and Past: "This is how I was raised" or "Because of my past experiences, I can't change."

Fatalism: "It's meant to be" or "If it's destined to happen, it will."

Fear of Responsibility: "What if I make the wrong choice?"

Lack of Awareness: "I never realized I had a choice."

Overwhelm and Decision Fatigue: "There are too many choices; I can't decide."

Biological Determinism: "It's in my genes" or "It's just how my brain is wired."

Social Conformity: "Everyone else is doing it."

Lack of Self-Belief: "I don't have the capability to change" or "This is just who I am."

Religious Beliefs: "God has a plan for me" or "It's in God's hands."

Now, take a moment to think about how many of these excuses you happen to use, maybe every day, or during times of distress.

Some of these can genuinely sound like valid reasons however it does not make them unlimiting or disempowering for us.

And for our purposes - to reach and realize our highest possible potential - we cannot afford to believe in things that will restrict us, can we?

Identifying Your Own Cognitive Biases To Make Better Decisions

Do you make your own decisions?

Or are they made for you based on your cognitive biases, which in turn were shaped by various factors taken in unconsciously/subconsciously?

Have you ever thought about these consciously?

One significant problem that hinders people from exercising free will in their lives is cognitive biases.

These are systematic patterns of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment, causing individuals to perceive reality based on their subjective beliefs rather than objective truths.

A cognitive bias might arise from the brain's attempt to simplify information processing. 

Over time, you form mental shortcuts or "heuristics" based on past experiences.

While these shortcuts can be helpful, they often lead you to make decisions that aren't truly free but are instead influenced by pre-existing beliefs, societal conditioning, or emotional responses.

For example…

Confirmation bias leads you to search for, interpret, or remember information in a way that confirms your pre-existing beliefs about something. This limits your ability to make decisions based on all available evidence or facts, as you are only seeing what you want to see.

When cognitive biases go unchecked, they can greatly limit your capacity to make objective and free choices, making you a prisoner of your own subconscious patterns.

To truly exercise free will, you need to be aware of these biases and actively work against them, ensuring that choices are made based on rationality and genuine personal preferences rather than subconscious influences.

The Trap Of Deterministic Thinking

To indulge in deterministic thinking promotes laziness, renouncing the sense of responsibility, and victim-mindset.

All of these are big barriers to becoming your highest self and creating a life that you love.

When you believe that your fate is set, you may fail to seize opportunities or overcome challenges, thinking it's all "meant to be."

If everything is set in stone, you may feel life lacks purpose or spontaneity, leading to existential crises or feelings of nihilism.

Believing in an unchangeable fate can lead to resignation and inaction, as you might come to believe that efforts to change or grow are futile.

Not to mention how distressing it can be to think that personal joys, achievements, or sufferings are preordained, leading to feeling complete helplessness.

If actions and outcomes are seen as predetermined, it may disrupt the psychological feedback loop where you feel rewarded for proactive choices.

Such a perspective discourages adaptability and learning, two crucial components of personal growth and expansion.

Recognizing the power of choice and embracing uncertainty can lead to proactive behaviors, resilience, and a continuous quest for improvement, ultimately fostering us to create a life that we do love and want to live and achieve personal happiness/success/mastery.

Overcoming The Big Challenge

Overcoming the influence of cognitive biases to better exercise free will requires intentional effort and awareness.

Here's a step-by-step framework to address this challenge:

1. Awareness and Acceptance: Recognizing and accepting that you're susceptible to biases is the first step in combatting them.

2. Slow Down Decision Making: Instead of making snap judgments, pause and give yourself time to think things through.

3. Seek Diverse Perspectives: Actively seek out opinions different from your own. Engage in discussions with people of varying backgrounds and perspectives. This exposes you to alternative viewpoints and counteracts the effects of confirmation bias.

4. Challenge Your Own Assumptions: Regularly ask yourself why you hold certain beliefs. Are they based on facts, experiences, or simply assumptions? This will allow hollow subjective beliefs to fall flat on the ground and help you step into a new reality.

5. Consistently Self-Reflect: Adopt practices like journaling, meditation, or mindfulness exercises to increase self-awareness and allow you to identify moments when biases might be at play.

6. Limit Information Overload: Be selective about the information you consume. While it's essential to stay informed, consuming too much information can exacerbate biases. Filtering out unnecessary information can help in making clearer, more rational decisions.

7. Seek Trusted Feedback: After making decisions, seek feedback from the people you trust and who know/understand you to verify if biases might have influenced your choices. Remember that to forge independent thinking and decision-making, it’s essential to not seek too much guidance before you make a decision.

8. Continuous Learning: Continuous education keeps you aware of the evolving understanding of biases and ways to counteract them.

9. Reward Objectivity: Whenever you successfully overcome a bias, acknowledge and reward yourself. Positive reinforcement encourages objective thinking and solidifies the new knowledge in your brain to reduce the influence of biases in the future.

Empowerment and Agency in Shaping Your Destiny

When you actively choose to lead a life influenced by free will, you inherently embrace empowerment and agency over your life's direction.

This means you believe, and subsequently experience, that your choices, actions, and decisions play a crucial role in determining your life's outcomes.

This sense of agency helps instill deep-rooted confidence and motivation to pursue your passions, overcome obstacles, and shape desired life circumstances.

Instead of passively waiting for fate to unfold or attributing setbacks to destiny, you take proactive measures to design your desired future.

The belief in your own ability to influence life outcomes fosters resilience.

When faced with challenges, you are more likely to perceive them as temporary setbacks that can be overcome through effort and determination, rather than insurmountable predetermined outcomes.

Ultimately, it’s your life and the sooner you realize that you cannot be a mere spectator in the theater of your own life, the sooner you can begin crafting your own narrative and destiny.

How To Build Independent Thinking and Decision-Making In Your Life

Step 1: Self-reflection - Understanding your existing beliefs through Belief Mapping

1. Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle.

2. On the left side, list all the instances where you believe you exercised free will in the past week.

3. On the right side, list out instances where you felt events were predetermined or out of your control.

4. Reflect on the balance between the two sides. Does one dominate more than the other?

Step 2: Challenge your beliefs - Playing the devil's advocate.

1. Choose a recent decision you made and write down the reasons for your choice in your journal.

2. Now, try to argue the opposite: How might determinism have influenced this decision? Or, if you felt it was predetermined, how might free will have played a role?

3. Perform the “5 Whys” exercise wherever necessary to come to an objective conclusion.

Step 3: Mindset shifts - Practical exercises to mold one's thinking.

1. Think of a challenging situation from your past.

2. Replay the situation in your mind but incorporate a balanced viewpoint of free will and determinism.

3. Write down the alternative decisions you could have made and the potential outcomes, considering both perspectives.

4. Reflect on how this new mindset could have influenced the actual outcome.

Step 4: Implementation in daily life - Practical ways to apply your chosen perspective for better results.

1. At the end of each day, take 10 minutes to jot down 2-3 major events or decisions from the day.

2. For each, write a brief note on how free will influenced the event or decision and how determinism might have played a role.

3. Focus on which way of thinking allowed you to be more in control and power of your day or life.

4. When you do this every day, over time you will be able to remove the subconscious disempowering beliefs and patterns and exercise more independent thinking and decision-making in your life.

Get focused on deciphering your own chains.

Recognize the invisible scripts governing you: Acknowledge subconscious beliefs, societal norms, or familial expectations that guide your actions, often without our realization.

Dissect past influences and their present impact: Your past, including childhood experiences, past traumas, and previous relationships, plays a significant role in shaping who you are today. By examining these past influences, you can better understand our current behaviors, reactions, and fears to break negative patterns.

Step out of the routine to see the ropes: Routines, while stabilizing, can also be confining. Momentarily step out of your daily habits and patterns, this vantage point allows you to "see the ropes" – the ties that bind you, whether they are beneficial structures or limiting constraints.

Ask “why” often, challenging your own status quo: Continuous self-questioning promotes growth. By asking "why" you do certain things or believe certain ideas, you challenge your own internal status quo. This not only helps in identifying self-imposed limitations but also fosters a mindset of continuous learning and self-improvement.

Hope you found this useful.

Until next time.

- Dimple