Do we have free will or it's all just an illusion? Modern sciences would like to tell us it's the latter. Your body and mind are just one big complex machine that acts according to the laws of physics, the neurons in your brain were fired up long (nanoseconds) before you think of an idea or make a move, the end result of a long chain of events that trace back all the way to the day the universe started.
But like the behavior of flowy water cannot be described by the particle-like movements of its atomic components, and deterministic events in microcosm do not transpire to deterministic outcome in a "chaotic", complex system (having full knowledge of all the meteorological parameters does not guarantee accurate predictions of the weather, for example), such reductionist deconstruction of human psyche is fallacious and even unscientific.The philosophical determinism and religious predestination theory, on the other hand, are more about fancy thought-play and mystical after-the-fact statements than honest reporting of human state of mind as it happens.
Free will, in common sense term that you and I can understand and experience, is the capacity to weigh different options and make decisions without coercion (such as someone holding a gun to your head), to do things we desire.
A sovereignty that some may prefer not to have, for some reason. In a psychological experiment, one group of people were asked to read a passage arguing that free will was an illusion, and another group to read a passage that was neutral on the topic. Then both groups were subject to a variety of temptations and observed their behavior. What researchers found was, with the opportunity to cheat being equal, the former group took more illicit peeks at answers during a math test and took more money than they should from an envelope of $1 coins than the latter.
So, if you are free, what will you do?
President Eisenhower once quoted a Stoic-ish statement in one of his State of the Union addresses that "Freedom is the opportunity to do the right thing;" ancient Greek philosophers--Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle--believe that seeking truth is the same as seeking good, helping people becoming virtuous in the process.
And devout believers seek God's will to replace their own; contemplative "deep silence" prayers try to will nothing but hold an implicit intent to be in union with God during meditation; naturalists think they see the Creator's will everywhere or nowhere in the world.
Flipping the coin to the other side, free will could be hijacked by the basest of human instincts--aggression, possessiveness, self-aggrandization--to an abysmal end as deep as their superego would take them. All the ruthless rulers and mad men in history...
Free will may be overrated, after all. As relational creatures living in an interconnected world, none of us has absolute freedom but all depend on the freedom of others and the complex makings of a fragile world for our well-beings. Instead of insisting "my way or highway," "your wish is my command" may be a wiser approach to harmonious living.
Your good will will always trump my free will, that is.
