Determinism or Free-will, These two are a real quandary. People tend to line up on one side or the other of the question; as if there were no other sides.
But there are.
The ‘Either-Or’ construct was probably the earliest bit of logic that our recently evolved semi-intelligent ancestors became consciously aware of. And thus it was enshrined, early on, as one of our first ‘go to’ strategies to be used when reasoning out the world around us.
But in truth, the reality being considered is under no obligation to conform to an ‘Either-Or’ expectation.
Nor does the choice between Free-will and Determinism define the only relevent alternatives.
And that’s a good thing. Because pure Determinism renders us pointless. And Free-will requires us to be Gods independent of existence.
The alternative we have been missing lies all around us; in plain sight.
It is looking out of your eyes this very moment and it in your cat lying on the couch on the other side of the room.
If you are an animal which experiences the urge to survive, then you are that alternative.
Existence is not defined solely by Newtonian cause and effect Determanism on one hand and Quantum probabilities on the other.
There is another dimension to our reality called complexity.
Visualize a line that runs from Determinism on one end to Quantum probabilities on the other. Now, add another line which rises vertically from the first and call it Complexity.
It is on this line that you will find “Life”.
Life is patterns of matter which replicate themselves using energy harvested from the environment around them.
Life has evolved and increased its complexity for nearly 4 billion years.
One form, the evolving complexity took about 600 million years ago, was animals.
The more complex animals have nervous systems. These systems allow the animal’s environment to be sensed so decisions, which optimize its survival and propagation, can be made. Emotionally, these animals ‘care’ if they survive or not.
This is life-based ‘local will’.
So, when you put milk in your coffee today, it was not an action presdestined to happen since existence began. Nor did it require your God essence, from somewhere beyond this causal existence, to step in to help make the choice.
It was just you, you sweet little self-replicating pattern of matter. You, who preserves the coherence of your physical manifestation using excess energy shed by the local stellar unit.
And that’s good.
Good because the saddest part of the Determinism/Free-will debate concerns those who cannot find their way out of this determinist/Free-will trap.
Many of these people are genuine seekers; people who have waded deeply into philosophical questions, spiritual traditions and into non-duality.
And they have begun by correctly concluding that our sense of a personal self and of ego-hood are illusions. And they are.
But then they’ve further concluded that if all existence is one thing, then a personal will must also be an illusion.
This is wrong.
And they do themselves and the world a terrible disservice with this conclusion. Embracing it removes some of our best and brightest from actively contributing to the shaping of our future.