To Act or Not To Act

Indeterminism or determinism, freedom or predestination, to act or not to act that is the question. If we had a definite answer to this question, we could be considered gods. What if you know your life was predestined, would you always do the best you could in every endeavor? On the other hand, what if you had a choice, how would you make the best one? These vistas will be compared in this analysis.

When you look at the freedom to act on your desires, can you really, actually act on your desires? Moreover, the freedom to act does not guarantee success. An example, when a young man attempts to approach a young woman he may be interested in, there is a freedom to act. Freedom is the belief on chance. There is a chance that this young woman may accept the young man’s advance. The young woman has freedom to act or not to act. This is indeterminism. 

If there were belief in determinism, this case would change. Determinism is a theory that our lives are predestined. The young man who is interested in the young woman would have no choice in his reaction, as it is predestined. How could we truly know if this was predestined interest or not? Humans cannot control the way they act or better yet humans cannot control their desires.

It has been said that the hardest thing for a man to do is control his desires. The freedom to act or not to act on ones desires may be the best term that humans have for freedom. There is no freedom were you have desire.

Predestine, being here, right now, writing this essay is a predestined event, which I have had no control over. There is no freedom were you have no choice.         

Therefore, we were all born into slavery.