Embracing the Paradox: Free Will and Determinism
Why I believe in choice even if everything is predetermined – and why it matters
❓ The Problem
Every action we take follows from prior causes. Every thought, every decision, can be traced back through chains of causation to the Big Bang. From this absolute perspective, free will seems impossible. Yet from my relative perspective – the one I actually live from – choice feels real and meaningful.
🌌 The Absolute View
I believe that ~99% of what happens follows deterministic cause and effect. Even when I 'choose' something, that choice arises from prior influences: my genetics, experiences, current brain state, environmental triggers. If we could rewind time with identical conditions, the same choice would occur.
- Every step someone took, they took because of a previous step
- This chain extends back to the beginning of the universe
- Even our desires to change things come from other impulses
- Consciousness itself may be an emergent property, not a prime mover
- From this view, the concept of free will cannot exist
👁️ The Relative View
Yet here I am, experiencing life as if my choices matter. And functionally, they do. When I believe I can change things, I take action. When I take action, things change. The illusion becomes real in its consequences.
Soft Determinism
Soft determinism tries to reconcile these views by distinguishing external from internal causes. Someone forced by external circumstances lacks free will. Someone choosing from internal deliberation has it. But hard determinism shows that even 'internal' causes are just earlier external ones internalized.
⚖️ Embracing the Paradox
Rather than choosing between these views, I embrace both. What matters is which belief serves life better. Believing in choice empowers me to act. Acting creates change. Change validates the belief. From my lived perspective, this is enough.
- From the absolute view, it might be predetermined
- From my relative view, it's liberating
- I can hold both perspectives without contradiction
- This isn't intellectual dishonesty – it's recognizing context matters
The Useful Fiction
Believing in free will is useful even if it's not 'true' in an absolute sense. This belief helps me take responsibility, make changes, grow. The alternative – fatalism – leads to passivity and suffering.This is what I explore in The Magician – the belief that my choices matter becomes self-fulfilling. It's agency exercised through paradox: even if everything might be predetermined, acting as if I can change things actually changes them. The belief itself has causal power, creating a feedback loop where the universe around us genuinely shifts in response to our conviction that we can shape it. This is emergence in action – a mental state (belief) creates behavioral changes that alter reality, which reinforces the belief.
🌱 Implications for Living
Embracing this useful fiction shapes how I approach everything – from raising children to designing systems to making decisions. But it's the absolute view – understanding determinism at its core – that has given me something unexpected: a deeper capacity for empathy.
Practical Applications
I teach my kids they can change through effort (growth mindset) while acknowledging influences beyond their control. In doing so, I'm creating a new causal flow that extends far into the future – planting seeds of belief that will guide them through life. I focus on giving them the right mental models, knowing these frameworks will determine where their steps lead. In a causal universe, the models they internalize today become the compass for their decisions tomorrow.
I design products assuming users have agency while respecting cognitive limitations. I hold myself responsible while extending compassion for my conditioning. This framework has helped me navigate responsibility without guilt, encourage growth without blame, and accept what is while working to change what can be changed.
The Gift of Empathy
Perhaps the most profound gift of understanding determinism is empathy towards others. When I truly grasp that free will doesn't exist at the fundamental level, I see that nobody chose to become who they are. Every person – even those who frustrate or hurt me – arrived at their current state through an infinite flow of causality. The angry stranger, the difficult colleague, the person making choices I don't understand – none of them woke up one day and decided to be that way. They are the product of genetics, upbringing, experiences, traumas, and countless influences stretching back to the beginning of time. This doesn't excuse harmful behavior, but it dissolves judgment and opens the door to genuine compassion.