No Free Will

One of the reasons that I am more and more convinced that there is no such thing as free will is the number of times I still find myself doing things that I don’t want to do, but for one reason or another, I am compelled to do. If we really examine even one day -- what happened and the events that led up to each experience -- we’ll see the reasons that we made a particular, specific decision just the way we did. There was no choice. It may have felt like there was. We may take a lot of time doing what we call “considering” every viewpoint and every option, but the fact is we end up doing one particular thing whether we felt like it or not.

I do what I do for the simple reason that these are my marching orders. It has nothing to do with my having decided, because this is the wisest choice. I did it because it was in my script for the day, and there was nothing else I could do. And this is where all of us are, I think, all of the time -- in a stream that carries us along regardless of our wishes. Sometimes the stream carries us to such pleasant places that we could just stay there forever. But think about it. Sooner or later, everything changes. Then it’s time for the less pleasant experiences. There are many in life. And the great schoolmaster in the sky has said, “Get ready for another change, sweetheart.”