Antoinette Obiefuna, Features Editor
Have you ever asked yourself if the life you are living has been formulated by the choices that you have made along the way or if it has been carved out before you came out of your mother’s womb?
This inquiry derives from the universal debate between the notions of free will and predeterminism.
Nevertheless, we have found ourselves living in a world where everyone possesses contrasting perspectives on the issue due to religious backgrounds, cultural influences, and personal beliefs.
Free will is based upon the ability of an individual to choose different paths in their life through unrestricted actions, regardless of the consequences and moral responsibilities.
For example, say you decide to enter an interracial relationship with another individual while being aware of the social perceptions and judgments that follow; thus, you are consciously making your own decision and you inherently believe that the relationship you just chose to participate in will define the ultimate outcome of an aspect of your life.
Nothing more, nothing less. In regards to this, senior Devonny Banks provides her perspective, “I believe that people make their own path, but personally I believe in free will because I am agnostic.”
In essence, we can see that external and personal influences play a bigger role in the whole concept of free will such as religious/non-religious beliefs. However, when boiled down to its core, free will needs to originate from pure thought. So, that means if you are somehow blackmailed or forced into doing something, it would not be free will because the action will be done through coerced thought.
The fundamental platform of predeterminism is the idea that all events that occur in your life are determined in advance, regardless of the choices and actions you make.
In relation to the previous example, your interracial relationship was bound to happen considering the path your life was heading towards; thus, you never had a say in whether or not you could weigh the pros and cons of what biases and predicaments could penetrate your relationship.
Most of this concept derives from religion, as those who have based their faith on the existence of a god believe that their god has crafted the occurrences that happen and they just have to accept the prepared path; however, that becomes a hard thought to grasp.
Senior Kalysta McCann explains this in her own words when she declares, “My life would be completely different if it were predetermined and I have had many opportunities to change my mind on different things and I have thought about the different outcomes […] I just can’t wrap my head around it.”
Nevertheless, with this theory, it is evident that we do not know if our choices give definition to any part of our lives when it has already been set up.
Do you believe in free will or fate? Do you believe that you are where you are now because someone or something is controlling your destiny? Or do you simply believe you made the choice to be there?
The Cat's Eye 