I have noticed in quite a few videos on science that the speakers make reference to free will and claim that free will does not actually exist. This is especially true when the speaker is talking about various interpretations of quantum mechanics such as the Many Worlds interpretation [Many-worlds interpretation - Wikipedia] and especially in the Superdeterminism interpretation [Superdeterminism - Wikipedia]. The idea that free will doesn’t exist is wrong, even in a completely deterministic universe.
Let’s start with a definition of free will. “The power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion” Google Definition. Wikipedia has this definition: “Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded” [Free will - Wikipedia]. I like to define free will in a more technical sense: “Free will is the ability of an agent to choose from a minimum of two different options without any outside coercion while making the choice.” It is basically what the phrase implies; we are free to make a choice and that choice is entirely made by us.
However, the determinists say we don’t have free will because the choice is irrelevant; the outcome is already determined. This is wrong and it is wrong for one very simple reason. Determinism tells us WHAT choice was made but it doesn’t inform us HOW that choice was made. Free will informs us on HOW a choice was made but doesn’t extend to WHAT choice was made. The two concepts are different in scope and only give us partial information about a choice. The difference here is subtle but significant. Look at the definition of free will again. “The ability to make a choice without coercion.” That right there informs us of the scope of free will. If I can make a choice without any outside force compelling me to make that choice, then I am exercising free will. The actual outcome of the choice isn’t relevant. Free will extends to the choice itself and no farther.
Determinists want to take the outcome of free will and try to work backward to the choice to imply that free will doesn’t exist. However, you simply cannot do this because you don’t have the information to do this backward logic trace. Suppose I know that when I offer you an apple and orange I know for a fact that you will pick the apple. It is a predetermined outcome. What does this knowledge tell me? It only tells me WHAT your choice is going to be. There isn’t any information on HOW you make the choice. Remember the definition of free will? It is HOW you make a choice, not what the outcome of that choice is. You cannot backtrack from the outcome of a choice to the choice itself because you have no information on how that choice was made. You only know the WHAT not the HOW. I could know the outcome of every choice you make and have zero information on how those choices were made. You simply cannot determine how a choice was made by looking at the outcome of a choice.
Free will informs us on HOW a choice is made and whether that choice was free. In the apple and orange example, even though the outcome is predetermined, as long as I (or some outside force) doesn’t force you to choose an apple, then you have exercised free will, even in a completely deterministic setting. There are some that say the universe itself is forcing the choice but, of course, they leave out the mechanism of this supposed manipulation of choice. There is no need to invoke this sort of metaphysical influence when in reality there is no conflict between free will and determinism.
Determinism may give us the information to predict every choice every creature in the universe will make, but it tells us nothing about how those choices were made. It gives us the WHAT but not the HOW. Free will tells us HOW a choice is made, whether it is free or not, but doesn’t care WHAT choice is made. To confuse the two is an attempt to make an apple into an orange. Knowing the outcome of a choice is only part of the story. The most important part, how that choice was made, can only be determined by examining the choice itself.
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