Simple Logic

The question of free will can be indisputably answered with direct and simple logic.

Let us agree that if an event (i.e. behavior, thought, speech, etc...) has a cause other than "free will", then said event is determined by said cause, and is hence said to be "predetermined", and not "free willed".

Now let's extend this understand directly to a given sequence of events. If in a given sequence of events each event is directly determined by its predecessor, then the entire sequence is predetermined. Inversely, and more significantly, if any event in the sequence is not determined directly by some preceding event then the entire sequence that follows this "free event" is no longer predetermined, but is in fact determined by the so-called "free event".

This "free event" could easily then be called "free will", but I'm not going to argue nomenclature here. Instead I will simply point out that if an event has no determinable cause, then it is technically a random event.

If you take the time to openly reflect on this simple and irrefutable logic then you will no doubt get yourself quickly tied up in all kinds of logic loops and contradictions. For example, if every event has a cause, then what was the first cause? Or, if a "free event" is really random, then what is "free will"? But, if you reflect long enough the one, and only possible, solution should become apparent.

"Free Will" is neither random, nor predetermined. Instead, it must be determined by an INFINITE sequence of causes. In other words, there is no "first cause", nor will there ever be a "last event". Any other conclusion is not only irrational, but, in my view, completely insane.

I have been contemplating this philosophy of infinite cause for a long time, and a lot of dissallusion and new understanding has resulted, which tells me it's worth hanging onto and contemplating even more. It may very well be the "keystone of understanding that completes my bridge to enlightenment... but, then maybe not.

Methinks, the key to knowing God is simply finding a way of comprehending infinity - and logic will always fail in this quest. But, what you do when it fails is what determines your progress. Do you give up, like most people, or start over, and over, and over again, each time changing one small thing. Like evolution itself, we may fail a thousand, even a billion times, but as long as we are willing to keep failing then we will never be a failure.

(J.D. 6-15-13)