Is free will a myth?

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I saw this video by a neuroscientist claiming that free will is a myth. Can anyone refute this scientists claims? He said we are programmed biologically to act certain ways and to behave certain ways due to genetics, culture, family, etc.
 
Rcui said:
I saw this video by a neuroscientist claiming that free will is a myth. Can anyone refute this scientists claims? He said we are programmed biologically to act certain ways and to behave certain ways due to genetics, culture, family, etc.
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Nobody is going to refute those claims. We certainly have biological/societal/experiential influences on our behavior. That doesn’t mean biology/society/experience is the sole determinant of behavior. It’s like saying because an engineer examines humans merely in regards to their mass when designing an airplane that the only thing that constitutes a human is mass.
 
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Rcui said:
I saw this video by a neuroscientist claiming that free will is a myth. Can anyone refute this scientists claims? He said we are programmed biologically to act certain ways and to behave certain ways due to genetics, culture, family, etc.
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That’s a radical materialist point of view that is absurd, because it only takes into account a portion of any given experience. If I decide to have a ham sandwich instead of a turkey sandwich for lunch, it is in a sense because of a series of chemical reactions taking place inside my brain, but it may also be because I had a turkey sandwich yesterday and don’t want to have the same thing two days in a row.
 
We all can use arbitrary reasons to do things that are against our self interest. The Scientist may say that this is still part of our decision making wiring. However, I think that you can do something that is so far removed from your instincts that you would have to classify it as free will.

I need to ponder it more, but the Scientists statement doesn’t strike me as being a 100% absolute.
 
Free will is a gift from God. We have it, and God gives us a choice to use it how we want. Why do we feel the urges inside of “good and evil”?
 
Get a copy of the book, “Who’s in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain” by Michael S. Gazzaniga

Michael S. Gazzaniga is internationally recognized in the field of neuroscience and a pioneer in cognitive research. He is the director of the SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

His book explains that although we are influenced through biologically, we still have the freedom in choosing right or wrong.

The idea that cause and effect take away our “free will,” is flawed and what atheists use to defend their positions.

If they were right, Hitler and Stalin get a free pass.

Jim
 
tomarin said:
Would it be merely a chemical reaction though?
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Somehow I doubt my saying “I don’t like that dress and I’m not going to wear it because I think the pattern is hideous” is totally a chemical reaction. I agree.
 
Contrast humans with animals. In any natural setting, animals will always seek to reproduce, it is too compelling they have no choice. Humans, however, can choose not to reproduce because they have free will.
 
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