How Can Free Will Possibly Have Evolved?

[Sunstone]

If there is such a thing as free will, then free will must have come into existence through evolution. But that raises the question of how is it at all possible for free will to have evolved? If it was not an evolutionary spandrel, then what would have been the selective pressure(s) for it? How would those pressures translate into an evolutionary advantage for free will?

 

[LuisDantas]

I'm not sure I understand what Free Will would be, and I doubt it exists as such.

But I believe there is an adaptative advantage to being less previsible than other animals. It might lead to tribes exploring various strategies for hunting, processing food and choosing habitations at the same time, which improves the odds of finding out a functional or even optimal one.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

I'm not convinced there is such a thing as free will. The self may think it's acting, but that's not evidence it is.

 

[Mathematician]

Another negative. I think free will is just the illusion of feeling in control.

 

[sandandfoam]

I think that the advantage might not lie in the existence of free-will but in the experience of it.

 

[Noaidi]

If free will exists and has its roots in biology, it would be fair to assume that it also exists in other primate species.

 

[Aquitaine]

Personally I don't believe we have Free Will so........

 

[Willamena]

While free will exists, I couldn't for the life of me imagine that it "came into existence" via "evolution." Answers to these questions are beyond me.

 

[Noaidi]

Does anyone think free will exists in other animal species? If so, could it be a product of evolution? If it doesn't exist beyond humans, are we assuming that non-human animals are automatons?

I don't have an answer myself, just throwing out questions. I'm not sure I even know what free will is....!

 

[sandandfoam]

Does anyone think free will exists in other animal species? If so, could it be a product of evolution? If it doesn't exist beyond humans, are we assuming that non-human animals are automatons?

I don't have an answer myself, just throwing out questions. I'm not sure I even know what free will is....!

I don't think we have free will, but it feels like we do, and we are made in such a way that we behave like we do - so for all intents and purposes we do. Even though in an empirical sense we likely don't.

I wouldn't be greatly surprised to find that monkeys, elephants and dolphins felt like they do too. Although God alone knows how one could determine that

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

If there is such a thing as free will, then free will must have come into existence through evolution. But that raises the question of how is it at all possible for free will to have evolved? If it was not an evolutionary spandrel, then what would have been the selective pressure(s) for it? How would those pressures translate into an evolutionary advantage for free will?

If "free will" is simply the ability to choose, then I'd say that it's a direct effect (not a spandrel) of cognition and has been present in some form as long as we've had brains.

If you're talking about some higher-order ability to conceptually evaluate alternatives and then knowingly choose between them, well, the ability to imagine and to evaluate the likely effects of a course of action are huge. It lets you gain most of the benefits of experience without any of the associated personal risks.

If you're using the term "free will" to describe something else, then I guess we'd have to first find out what you mean by the term before we can figure out whether it evolved.

 

[Storm]

If there is such a thing as free will, then free will must have come into existence through evolution. But that raises the question of how is it at all possible for free will to have evolved? If it was not an evolutionary spandrel, then what would have been the selective pressure(s) for it? How would those pressures translate into an evolutionary advantage for free will?

Well, I don't believe free will is absolute. It exists in opposition to influences we have no control over, ranging from the accident of birth to subconscious psychology.

That said, I think it must have evolved in conjunction with the illusion of separation. In thinking ourselves different from one another, we are free to inflict suffering, for instance.

 

[Willamena]

Does anyone think free will exists in other animal species? If so, could it be a product of evolution? If it doesn't exist beyond humans, are we assuming that non-human animals are automatons?

I don't have an answer myself, just throwing out questions. I'm not sure I even know what free will is....!

Where there's a Way, there's a will.