Are all choices inevitable?

[Compassionist]

I have been wondering about this for 23 years. Are all choices inevitable? If any other living thing (e.g. a virus, another human, a cow or a bird) had my genes, my environments, my nutrients and my experiences (across my lifetime until this very moment), would they not be me and be typing these words right where and when I am typing them? Conversely, if I or any other living thing had YOUR genes, environments, nutrients and experiences (across your lifetime until this very moment), wouldn't I or they be YOU and be reading this post when and where you are doing so?

Could I have done something else? If so, why didn't I do that instead of doing this? Could you have done something else? If so, why didn't you do that instead of this? I would really like to know for sure. Without our consent, we are thrust into existence and we keep riding the river of causality until we are plunged into death. Can we be free of the chains of causality or are we doomed to be its prisoner from start to finish?

[DanieltheDragon]

[Replying to post 1 by Compassionist]

In an infinitely bifurcation universe you have made all possible choices! And simultaneously you are both writing and not writing this at the same time! Unprovable assertions and muddied waters aside. It is possible that from the moment the big band sprang existence into motion all of our choices have already been made that merely we are bits of particles flying through the universe in a continued explosion of matter. I would counter that us being self aware allows us to manipulate the flow of matter in space this changing the outcome but as others have said neither scenario is really provable.

It is fun to ponder though, perhaps it's time to sit back with the ole telescope and relax and enjoy the universe.

[Compassionist]

[Replying to post 1 by Compassionist]

In an infinitely bifurcation universe you have made all possible choices! And simultaneously you are both writing and not writing this at the same time! Unprovable assertions and muddied waters aside. It is possible that from the moment the big band sprang existence into motion all of our choices have already been made that merely we are bits of particles flying through the universe in a continued explosion of matter. I would counter that us being self aware allows us to manipulate the flow of matter in space this changing the outcome but as others have said neither scenario is really provable.

It is fun to ponder though, perhaps it's time to sit back with the ole telescope and relax and enjoy the universe.

It's possible that there are an infinite number of universes where all possibilities are realised. It doesn't mean that we have free will. Our will is still constrained by our limited awareness, values and abilities. I want to teleport to all these other universes but I can't because my will is constrained.

[Peter]

[Replying to post 1 by Compassionist]

I've long thought that true free will is the ability to make a choice that we didn't make. Sadly, this is retroactively impossible. What we actually have is simulated free will because we'll never be able to fully understand everything that goes into a choice and consciously countermand it.

[DeMotts]

Are we a marble on a track? Will we end up at the same result given a set sequence of influences, down to the sub-atomic level? I believe the inherent uncertainty of quantum effects plays some role in this question. A set sequence of influences may determine the probability of something happening, but improbable things happen all the time. The nature of the existence of the universe itself seems to be based on one massively improbable event occurring, but hey here we are - every system must exist is SOME sort of a state. Given the the universe is the most complex system we know of, and that it contains a seemingly infinite number of variables, the notion that this is some sort of grand marble-track we're all coasting down seems unlikely.

For the same reason, this to me rules out the idea of a god that is omniscient and omnipresent. Not only do we have to believe that the universe in all it's complexity is a pre-determined equation, but by definition we must accept that there is an even more complex system governing over it somehow, a system we cannot observe and cannot affect.

[Dropship]

...Can we be free of the chains of causality or are we doomed to be its prisoner from start to finish?

Nobody knows, so all we can do is just live our lives without worrying about it..
To slightly digress, there are a couple of Twilight Zone episodes that explore the theme of whether a time-traveller to the past could change history, or whether the universe will always find a way to keep history on track no matter what a time-traveller might do, no matter how dramatic.
The first episode is "Cradle of Darkness" where a woman is sent back in time to 1889 to kill the newborn baby Hitler to prevent him growing up and starting WW2, and the second is "The Once and Future King" where somebody is accidentally thrown back in time to 1950's America and meets the as-yet unknown Elvis Presley.
(I won't give away the endings here, but PM me if you can't find the episodes on youtube and I'll tell you what happened)
PS- there's also a time-travelling film (can't remember the title) where a man goes back in time to the 1960's to try to convince President Johnson to pull out of Vietnam because it's unwinnable.

[Dropship]

...he notion that this is some sort of grand marble-track we're all coasting down seems unlikely. For the same reason, this to me rules out the idea of a god that is omniscient and omnipresent..

Ah, but there are strong indications in the Bible that God suspends his all-knowingness on this testing-ground called Earth and gives us free will to do as we please..
For example he tests Abraham by ordering him to kill his young son, but as he raises the knife God says-
“Do not lay a hand on the boy...Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God..� (Genesis 22:12)
Note God said "Now I know", which clearly shows he didn't know before the test.

[DeMotts]

[Replying to Dropship]

I'd say that exposes further inconsistency in the Bible. Here's some quotes to the contrary:

“Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD� (Psalm 139:4).

“O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways� (Psalm 139:1-3).

“My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you� (Psalm 139:15-16).

“Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?� (Job 37:16).

“Whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything� (1 John 3:20).

Your idea that god suspends his "perfect knowledge" and stops his ability to "know everything" to give us free will or test us doesn't adhere to the scriptures. In fact, Matthew 11:21 seems to indicate that he has awareness of alternate timelines:

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

So not only does he know everything you're going to do, he knows what would have happened if you'd done things differently. This makes his toying with Abraham even more disturbing, he knew the outcome and still forced the anguish upon him just to delight himself, truly horrifying behaviour. But who among us hasn't fried a few ants with a magnifying glass for lack of something better to do? It's amazing (but predictable) how we see the worst qualities of ourselves reflected in the gods we create.

[McCulloch]

Note God said "Now I know", which clearly shows he didn't know before the test.

I know nothing about God. I've been told that God, the creator of time and space, must exist outside of space time. He knows the future because the future isn't future to him. Now you've demonstrated that the writers of Genesis disagree.

[zjsd26]

I don't think all choices are inevitable, because we can use our critical thinking skills to make you are making the right decisions. I picture in life as a two-sided coin, depending on where you're from, and your thoughts on nurture vs nature. Our choices are basis off of our independence. It's like does everything happen for a reason? Well in some cases yes, in other cases, they do not, because it doesn't change after that moment. Than the reason is not valid.

I believe that in certain kinds of areas, that choices can be inevitable but for the most part, not exactly. We have the ability to have full responsibility for our actions, and our futuristic choices. It's just what happens after you make that decision is what matters, we need time to give us a solid answer and proper reasoning.