It seems one the biggest issues with free will is how it can fit in with a mindless, uncaring, deterministic universe. The modern acceptance of things like material reductionism makes it hard for most of us to see beyond the mindless flow of nature, even to the point of ignoring our own consciousness and its impact.
Now sure, when you're born and growing up there's likely limited, if any, free will. We have to be taught things like emotional regulation, sharing, control of one's physical body, critical thinking and meta cognition, etc and so on. It is these things that lead to increasing amounts of free will. To illustrate, take a scenario where someone angers you and you want to hit them. In a truly deterministic universe you would hit them, end of story. But as humans, thanks to higher consciousness, we can recognize such emotions arising in us, and control ourselves rather than simply reacting in a linear way.
Of course there are massive limits on free will, there's unending external influences and laws of reality itself. This does not mean free will does not exist. People can recognize and overcome influence, it's this fact that has allowed our species to come so far. In a deterministic universe you die from illness, you don't understand it, manipulate nature, and create a cure for it. You attack when you are angered, you don't manage your emotions. You become terrified or mystified by natural experiences like thunder and wind, you don't come to understand and even harness them. It could almost be said that along with higher consciousness, free will is an emergent property.
Now sure, when you're born and growing up there's likely limited, if any, free will. We have to be taught things like emotional regulation, sharing, control of one's physical body, critical thinking and meta cognition, etc and so on. It is these things that lead to increasing amounts of free will. To illustrate, take a scenario where someone angers you and you want to hit them. In a truly deterministic universe you would hit them, end of story. But as humans, thanks to higher consciousness, we can recognize such emotions arising in us, and control ourselves rather than simply reacting in a linear way.
Of course there are massive limits on free will, there's unending external influences and laws of reality itself. This does not mean free will does not exist. People can recognize and overcome influence, it's this fact that has allowed our species to come so far. In a deterministic universe you die from illness, you don't understand it, manipulate nature, and create a cure for it. You attack when you are angered, you don't manage your emotions. You become terrified or mystified by natural experiences like thunder and wind, you don't come to understand and even harness them. It could almost be said that along with higher consciousness, free will is an emergent property.
