Does Free Will Exist?

Free will exists and we are in charge of our own destinies. This is proven by the randomness that occurs in our everyday lives. Mark Twain wrote, “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t” in 1897 and it holds true today.

We can see the prevalence of free will when people win the lottery their first time choosing to buy a ticket, or getting in a wreck when taking a shortcut to work, or becoming ill after eating at a new restaurant with bugs crawling on the floors. All of these outcomes were determined by the individual’s choices that led them there.

In each of the above instances, the people would have avoided what happened to them had they not deviated from their normal lives. The first person had never purchased a lottery ticket, the second did not usually drive that route, and the third had never eaten at that restaurant, but because they freely choose to do so their lives were changed and that is free will.

The individuals were not forced to change their normal schedules and could have just as easily decided to do something else which would have resulted in a different outcome. For example, the second person could have decided to embrace being late to work and stopped to get coffee and donuts rather than take the shortcut to try and be on time and not be in a wreck at all. The same is true for the other two individuals.

Our choices define who we are and it is our responsibility to own them. Standing by our choices and actions is what gives a person integrity and makes others want to be around them. It is cowardly to say that our lives are predetermined and not our own because it takes the responsibility of the consequences of our actions and puts them on to someone else.