In ancient Greece, there was believed to be a group of people including the famous mathematician Pythagoras who believed that the entire universe could be explained in numbers. For example, they believed that it would be possible to figure out with numbers what would happen to a peach thrown at a certain angle with a certain speed at a certain altitude. And they turned out to be correct; in fact, they were beginning to discover physics. And now, because we actually have the mathematical understanding to know what will happen to this peach, we can actually apply this amazing idea that everything can be explained in numbers.
It would be logical to agree that numbers can only predict what would happen if we took a certain action. But, obviously, they couldn’t predict our actions. Or could they? After all, our actions are influenced by what happens to others around us, which in turn are influenced by what happened around them, and so forth, until this was influenced by the very first thing in the universe, presumably the Big Bang. Maybe the universe was like a pool shot; the Big Bang set off a huge chain reaction, which is all predetermined. This leads to the idea of free will. Do we have decisions in our life, or is everything predetermined?
Now, I’m not going to try to figure out whether or not free will exists. I’m not a scientist. I’m 12. But the point that I’m going to make is far more important than any argument for or against the idea of free will. Instead I’m going to ask this question, a question that is the only one that matters to us in this topic; How should I live when I don’t know whether free will exists or not?
PhiloKid 