Let’s try a somewhat more mechanistic and less-religious inquiry into this question. I often refer to it as ‘free won’t’ as as shorthand, but let’s consider what the brain (and by extension, the mind} actually do when presented with more or less complex choices.
It may help as an analogy to think of the brain automatically throwing up a spreadsheet, or even multiple ones when there is more than a single choice to be made. Naturally, the ‘sheet’ will be weighted towards the choices involving ‘what is best for me at this particular instant’. This is a survival reflex, as in when a speeding automobile is coming straight at you, you’re VERY likely to go with the top-ranked choice, which is ‘GET OUT OF THE`WAY!!!’ Now, start adding more complexity to the situation - say that speeding auto is coming straight for you and a small child or elderly person who can’t get out of the way.
Now the sheet gets more interesting - you can still go with choice A and save yourself, possibly at the risk of the loss of two other peoples’ lives, OR you can say ‘I won’t do that’ and try to save the other lives, perhaps hoping you may still survive, but seriously lowering the chances of that. Why, you may ask, would a person try such a stunt - and there are several possible answers. One could be that the child and elderly person are the choiemaker’s own child and grandparent. Another is that using the incredible speed of our brain’s calculatory abilities (the same ones that allow us to catch a thrown ball) allow him to think he might just be able to pull this trick off. Heck, another valid option would be to save himself, even though the other two pedestrians get hit, but he makes certain that he has the car’s description, license plate, and maybe a good description of the driver and calls it in, so that this killer is rendered unable to continue their horrible ways!
These are, of course, the very most basic examples I could think of - life and our decisions are far more complex the vast majority of the time. But when presented with an array of choices, we often do NOT choose the obvious, perceived-as-self-preservatory one for a whole host of reasons and motives. ‘Free Will’ as such may be a more imprecise, and often morally-freighted term, but we do certainly have the ability to decide ‘I will not’, against the obvious choice A, and try for choice C, or F, or Z, even if they are far less likely in the short run to acomplish our goals - in fact, with careful planning and a little luck, those apparently odd choices may redound to our long term success.
