Do We Always Make Our Own Choices??? by Devin Cooney

Hey kids!!! Don’t you think that everything you do is because you want to do it? Maybe this is not always true.

One person who does not agree with this idea is Daniel Wegner. In his book, The Illusion of Conscious Will, he argues not everything we do is because we want to do them. We cannot always control our actions. He uses some pretty cool examples.

One of which is the “Alien Hand Syndrome.” Alien Hand Syndrome is when a person loses an arm or a leg and it still feels like it is there. Isn’t that weird? One patient said that her “Alien Hand” would attempt to grab her clothes in the morning!!! She cannot be in control of this movement because her hand is not there. So do you still feel like everything you do is because you want to?

Another example he gives is hypnosis. He says that during this activity, the hypnotist is influencing the behavior by simply suggesting actions. One patient says that he felt that he was not controlling what he was doing.

However, Martin Heisenberg disagrees with this idea. In his opinion article, “Is Free Will an Illusion,” he looks at how animals act and react to certain situations to show that they make decisions on their own. The main point he makes is that freedom exists if the actions that we do are self-generated. Self-generated means that we decide what we do. He says, “their [animal’s] brains continuously pre-activate, discard and reconfigure their options, and evaluate their possible short-term and long-term consequences.” This means that they weigh good things versus bad things and choose whether to do something. He believes that these facts prove that free will is real.

The idea that these two people are arguing about is called free will. Free will is the ability to be able to choose your thoughts, actions, and ideas. Scientists and philosophers are always arguing this issue.

I would really like to believe that free will is real. I like to think I am the one who controls what I think, do, and say. Wegner does make some very good points about free will not existing though. His examples are clear and simple. Heisenberg’s point is a lot less clear. Wegner has made me rethink about this issue because of his examples.

So does free will exist kids? What do you think?

Fun Links:

The Illusion of Conscious Will by Daniel Wegner. http://books.google.com/books?id=eQnlRg56piQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false. January 31, 2010

Is Free Will an Illusion by Martin Heisenberg. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v459/n7244/full/459164a.html. January 31, 2010