Free will (part 2)

In my last post, I defined free will as having the freedom to make choices that are not 100% controlled by your DNA and environment.  I also explained that the Christian basis for free will is that God has created humans in His image, meaning we have a supernatural consciousness and knowledge of good and evil that allows us to control and even transcend our natural state. 

But what about those who don't believe in God?  Interestingly, most of my friends who are atheist or agnostic still believe in free will and in some notion of right and wrong.  But is there a basis for this? 

First, let's examine the evidence for the existence of free will in a naturalistic worldview.  Naturalism is the belief that there is nothing outside of the natural order.  There is no God, nothing supernatural, and nothing outside of the space-time continuum and the natural universe.  By this worldview, it logically follows that there can only be two things governing human behavior: our natural composition (DNA, the chemicals in our brain, etc.), and our environment. 

But are we really in control of either of these things?  We certainly have the perception that we are choosing our actions, but I am not sure this is possible under naturalism.  Without any possibility of a soul or a supernatural consciousness, the human body is reduced to a biochemical machine.  Any action we make is merely the inevitable outcome of the biological functionality of our body.  In other words, we are controlled by the same laws of nature that govern a rock falling off a cliff, or a robot following its computer code.  Granted, our "code" is much more complex than any robot humans can currently make, but it would be code nonetheless. 

And as for our environment, we are hardly in control of that either!  And even when we make any decisions to change our environment (moving, changing jobs or friends, etc.), it could be argued that all of these decisions are only being made because of our DNA and environment in the first place!  In short, it would seem like a purely naturalistic worldview cedes any possibility of autonomous control over any aspect of our life.  As Richard Dawkins, a naturalist, wrote in his book 'The Selfish Gene': "We are survival machines - robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes.  This is a truth which still fills me with astonishment."

Yet even atheists have a severe problem actually viewing humans as mere machines.  In fact, most of my friends and family who do not believe in God have a very heightened passion for social justice and equality.  When I hear their anger over things like unjust wars, unfair political policies, and corporate greed, it is very clear that they believe that people are responsible for their actions and that the strong should care for the weak.  Yet why all this anger, why this cry for justice and mercy, if we are all biochemical machines who can't control our selfish actions?  Clearly, the desire for free will and right and wrong seem universal.  But the only logical source for these needs would seem to lie outside of nature.  After all, nature is all about the strong crushing the weak, compassion and justice are alien concepts to the animal kingdom.  As is free will, as previously explained with the polar bear, animals do not seem to have any conscious control or responsibility for their actions. 

This is why, to me, it comes down to a choice.  If you reject God and accept naturalism, it follows that you should take this worldview to its natural (no pun intended) conclusion.  Under naturalism, we are nothing but a biochemical machine, blindly programmed by evolution to selfishly propagate our own DNA at the expense of weaker beings.  There is no free will, no choice, no higher purpose, no right, and no wrong.

Yet I have never met a person who can honestly accept these things.  Therefore, I would challenge people who do not currently believe in God to investigate why they believe so strongly in their morals and in their free will.  Perhaps they will find, as I have, that the only logical explanation is a supernatural source, such as God and the presence of a soul in each and every one of us. 

Free will (part 1)

Something I have been thinking about a lot recently is free will.  I have been reading a lot of books and watching a lot of debates between Christians and atheists concerning whether or not God exists, and something that has been striking to me is that even atheists tend to believe in free will and morality.  To explain why this is strange to me, I will have to back up and first define free will and the Christian basis for it.

To me, free will is the belief that humans have the ability to choose their actions in a manner that is not entirely controlled by their genes and environment.  In other words, humans have the ability to consciously rebel against and transcend their natural desires.  This is why humans are uniquely capable of both good and evil, because we are in conscious control of our actions and their repercussions in a way that other animals are incapable of.

I was recently watching a BBC nature show, where male polar bears were viciously fighting each other to see who would be the alpha male (this behavior is of course not unique to bears but rather ubiquitous in the animal kingdom).  The winner had the freedom to mate with any female he chose (regardless of whether she consents), and would continue to violently maul and even murder any nearby males to prevent them from mating with anybody.  The crucial point here is that nobody I know would consider such behavior between polar bears as immoral: nobody is saying that the polar bears are evil.  The male bear is simply acting according to his instincts (the desire to mate with as many females as possible) and his environment (there are competitors that must be crushed).  It's simply the way polar bears work, morality has nothing to do with it!

Here's the twist: now what if humans did this exact same thing?  For example, let's say that I was walking down the street and noticed a very attractive female holding hands with her boyfriend.  If I allowed myself to operate solely by my biological instincts (which I have just like the polar bear), I could clobber her boyfriend with a baseball bat and forcibly take her away as my conquest.  But of course, like most humans, I transcend any primal instincts I have in such situations out of respect for the well-being of others.  Now it's true that some people avoid bad behavior primarily to avoid legal/social repercussions, but it should be emphasized that I would assuredly avoid such behavior even if I could be assured there would be no punishment for my actions.  In other words, I have chosen to consciously repress my natural instincts for the sake of morality and the greater good.  This is an example of free will, every one of us exercises it every day, and the entire legal system of our country depends on its existence.  After all, why punish people for anything if they didn't have a choice? 

The Biblical explanation of free will is rather simple.  Christians believe that God uniquely created humans in His image, meaning that we all have a supernatural knowledge of good and evil (a.k.a. our soul).  This is where our conscious and consciousness comes from.  By conscious, I mean knowing right from wrong, and by consciousness, I mean having the rational faculty to suppress and transcend biological urges for the sake of loving others and doing the right thing, even at our own personal cost.  Until very recently, the vast majority of western civilization has believed in this supernatural source and justification for free will, and this has been the primary cause of the modern laws and social norms which have shaped modern civilization.

In my next post, I will talk about my perceived difficulty with reconciling naturalism with free will.  Until next time!

Welcome!

 Hey all,

Despite the somewhat tepid response to my proposition on Facebook, I have decided to start a blog anyway!  For those who don't know, my wife and I have just moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, and we thought that we would each start a blog to help keep friends and family in the loop.

On a more selfish note, I thought this would also be a good way to get back into non-scientific writing, as I am now in the process of trying to write my own novel and need all the practice I can get!  Otherwise, I just fall back to old habits and start writing equations everywhere, which might be okay if you know Greek but otherwise wouldn't make for the best reading.

Something that has been a constant struggle for me over the past few years is feeling like I am a Renaissance man trapped in an era of specialization.  As our technology and spheres of knowledge accelerate at ever-increasing rates, it often seems like any given person can only truly excel in a very specialized niche.  For example, I just read an interesting article about how smart phones are getting so complex that no one person can fully understand how every component works anymore, even the people who designed them!  Which begs the obvious question: if we are getting so specialized that an engineer cannot even fully understand the cell phone that he helped design, how could we ever truly excel in any field outside of our job?

Now I do know a lot of people who don't particularly care to invest excessive effort into any discipline outside of their line of work, which is perfectly fine, but for some reason I don't seem to function that way.  This is more than mere escapism too: I actually really like my job and find it engaging!  Yet I am constantly thinking and learning about other disciplines: namely theology, apologetics, philosophy, sociology, classical piano literature, music theory, literature, movies, and of course writing.

And for this reason, perhaps this blog is the perfect outlet for my extracurricular musings!  In addition to Shanda and I talking about marriage and our Tennessee adventures, which will perhaps be more concentrated in her blog than mine, I am planning on using this blog to discuss all of the non sequiturs rumbling inside of my head!  I know that sometimes my thoughts venture into politically and theologically sensitive waters, so how about this: I will do my best to discuss issues in a sensitive and careful manner, and for your part it would be great if any comments could also be calm and rational.

That being said, I can't emphasize enough how much I am looking forward to hearing thoughts and comments from all of my family and friends, I am in sore need of more sounding boards to bounce back ideas at me, particularly as I try to mold many of my thoughts into my upcoming novel!

And finally, perhaps a brief explanation for the title of this blog.  Actually, Shanda chose it for me, but I think it's an apt choice.  I tend to "branch" out into many different interests, but just like a tree these branches would be dead without the roots.  "I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).