{"id":6757,"date":"2019-05-12T12:24:30","date_gmt":"2019-05-12T12:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jamoroki.com\/?p=6757"},"modified":"2024-09-29T13:01:07","modified_gmt":"2024-09-29T06:01:07","slug":"free-will-illusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jamoroki.com\/authorindie\/free-will-illusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Free Will an Illusion: Where Thoughts Come From"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do I have control over what I think? If not, how can I do anything of my own free will? Is free will an illusion and where do thoughts come from, are questions we may ask but find difficult to answer. Is there such a thing as original<\/strong> thought and can we control our thoughts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best definition of the word original<\/span><\/strong> I have found is; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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arising or proceeding independently of anything else.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nDictionary.com<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We allow external factors to dominate our lives. There is nothing else to draw on. From birth to death, we learn from outside, starting with our mother. We create ourselves based on our ability to assimilate information from elsewhere and formulate our personality, character, and intelligence. As we grow older, we draw on our experiences, which have become internalised. But even those experiences came from external factors.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Sam Harris<\/a>, neuroscientist and author, describes \u2018Free Will<\/a>\u2019 as an illusion. He uses brilliant analogies to explain, acting of your own free-will implies that you could have done otherwise. So, is original thought possible if individual’s thoughts are beyond their control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He poses the question, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2018What are you going to think next?<\/strong> ‘<\/p>\nSam Harris<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

and goes on to observe;<\/p>\n\n\n\n