Do We Actually Have Free Will?

I've been feeling drained by my routines lately. I woke up one day wondering: do I really want this life I'm building? Or am I just following a script I didn't write?

So I started digging into the idea of free will.

First, what is free will?

Free will means having the power to choose your actions. It's the ability to decide for yourself, without being forced.

People say the sky is the limit, but with free will, you can choose and go beyond.

So… is the answer money? With financial freedom, I can do whatever I want.

Let's say you're rich

What do you want to do? You can afford any option now.

But does that mean you're truly choosing freely? Simply put: would the options you choose really reflect your true desires?

And what makes a desire a real desire? Everything I want is my real desire, isn't it?

You've been tricked

Every human is born into this world with their own predefined conditions:

• Biology: facial features, skin color, illnesses
• Environment: family, teachers, friends
• Culture: religion, race, nation
• Resources: education, internet access, capital

What causes us to have certain desires? Those predefined conditions.

Even if you became rich today, the desire to become rich isn't free will, and neither is the next desire that follows once you're rich.

Steered by the universe

Is free will necessary?

It depends on the context:

1. Survival: no. We can survive purely on instinct, conditioning and following orders. Many animals do. Many humans do too, without ever questioning why.
2. Society: partially. Society works because we assume people make choices. But the truth? Most of society doesn't question too deeply. It just runs.
3. Meaning: yes. If we want to feel alive, fulfilled or at peace, free will becomes essential.

We don't need free will to exist. But we need some kind of free will to truly live.

My two cents

Two people are offered the same option.

• One chooses automatically, based on habit.
• The other pauses, reflects and questions themselves, and makes a choice knowing it could hurt, heal or change them.

Maybe real free will isn't about how many options we have, but about how consciously we choose among them, even if everything led us to that moment.

If we can reflect, evaluate and act based on our reasons, then we do have some kind of free will.

---

So, do we actually have free will? Maybe not fully. But if we can pause, reflect and choose with intention, maybe that's the little freedom we do have.

First shared as an Instagram post on @kuronekoarchive, April 18, 2025.