Do we have a choice?

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Age old question – well, one of them – has been whether our life is pre-ordained, or we can control it. Corollary to that is, whether we really have a choice or is our fate already “Written”.

Religion has its basis in God or one powerful force that “manages” the entire universe and is watching our actions and helps us when we need the most. However, there are differences in the way choices are considered in different religions. Some believe that the story of our lives is already written, and we cannot change it. Some believe that we can shape our own lives by making wise choices. Some believe that even though we do make choices, in the grander scheme of things those choices are inconsequential.

Animals and humans, both make choices throughout their lives. Whatever philosophy about choice we believe, it applies to both. The major difference between animals and humans then becomes only the existence of the idea of “I”. Humans have self-awareness. Animals don’t. Animals’ choices are to survive. Human choices (often) are to fulfill and enhance this “I” (after the basic needs are fulfilled of course – Maslow’s theory). And this is where comes the idea of Free will. Humans, want to believe that they have free will; that the choices they are making are on their own and those choices are shaping their lives and future and that their future is not already written down. Those who believe that their fate is already fixed, also believe that they can change it by making better choices and Almighty will reward them for it. Even then the choices are supposed to have been made from free will. Very few will also make a choice of giving in completely to the idea of fate and let things comes to them rather making choices to move towards an idea of better “I”. For them “I” is what is already fixed, and no amount of choices will ever change it. There is also a school of thought that suggests that even the act of making those choices is something that is controlled by a higher force and hence the choice, though seemingly done of free will, are being made for you.

Now, leaving aside religion and thinking rationally about choices and free will, what do we get? Our choices should be able to decide what happens in our lives and since we make those choices ourselves, we are effectively shaping our lives out of our free will. It’s like a computer program (which is always rational, even though sometimes we feel it is behaving irrationally), where at many points there are choices of the future path are to be made. Depending on the choice, the path moves ahead and reaches another decision point and again and again as we move towards the end of the path. Some of these choices could lead to a common decision point, some might lead to different ones. Some might lead us back to an earlier decision point and some will end the flow immediately. It all depends on the decision taken. Those who have seen the Black mirror movie called “Bandersnatch” on Netflix, can relate to this – you have to make choices on the screen about what a character should do. Based on your choice, the story moves ahead in a different direction and in some cases the story moves back to an earlier stage. There are different endings to the movie based on your choices, while some set of choices lead to a common ending.

In the case of this movie or for that matter a computer program, are we making choices out of free will? Yes, cos we’re choosing 1 out of the few options available or entering or selecting a value based on which the program decides future course of action. So, free will, yes. However, in both these cases the choices are limited. We cannot choose something that is not available for choosing. In that sense, our free will is limited by the options available to us. What about life?

Our life is at a much grander scale in terms of the sheer number of decision points that we go through. Every small thing is a decision point. Like, whether to wake up when the alarm sounds or snooze it. What clothes to wear. Whether to take an umbrella with us while going out. Etc. so Bandersnatch or a computer program pales in comparison to life in terms of the amount of decision points encountered. What about the options available to us? Just like the number of decision points, the options available to us are also huge in number. But does that mean that the options available are infinite? It can’t be. It will be or rather is a very very very large number. Probably we will never be able to count or identify all the options available – in that sense it is probably uncountable. But it can’t be infinite because of the basic fact that the universe itself is finite. Everything within the universe is finite even if huge in number. Even if we go with the multiverse theory, we will always be part of only one universe at any given point of time – our “self” might be different in different universes, but it is still bounded by that specific universe and hence will always have a finite number of options.

So, if we have a huge finite number of decision points and huge finite number of options, what influences our choices or decisions? There could be multiple factors in this. Our birth is the first factor. Where, when, to which parents, in which society, which part of the world, etc. etc. is purely accidental as far as our “I” is considered. We cannot choose any of this because we don’t exist until we are born. Whether we come into this world or rather whether this “I” is brought into existence is itself a result of certain decisions by others. So, our journey technically starts only when we start existing (i.e. born). The moment, we start existing, our choices get limited by the environmental factors like society, country, etc. Some of the choices may seem fat fetched but could still be available. However, there will always be a large of options that are (though technically possible) are practically too complicated to follow through. Hence the limitation of options is a limitation of practicality rather than possibility. As a very crude example, a child born of extremely poor family and of average intelligence wants to study in Harvard. Is that choice available? Technically yes, he/she can decide to apply there. But practically (due to intelligence level and due to financial condition – both) that option is not probable. Having said that, the child might be exceptional in some sport and some other benefactor decides to support this child financially and he/she may get selected into Harvard due to this. However, such choices by others and environment around him/her coming together at the right time is improbable though not impossible. Hence, even though the options available at the decision point are still almost infinite, some are more probable than others – some are more in our control than others. In that sense they are limited. And as we go along taking decisions, we keep reducing the options available to use for future decisions (again, more based on practicality). Thus, our decisions are controlling our future options and path we can or will take in future, or how our life unfolds. We do control it but within a limitation of probable choices. Then, are we really controlling it? Or are we living in a Bandersnatch-isque world? And if yes, how do we deal with it?

Humans want to control. There’s a constant need to be in control of everything around us – our lives, other lives, environment, other animals, everything. This need to control is quite basic in humans. And from this need, comes a basic psychological trait of anxiety. Anxiety is useful in certain situations – however when the anxiety is due to the need to control and when it overcomes our other traits, it is a big problem. In some cases it can become a debilitating psychological issue that nowadays many people are facing across the world. We need to learn to let go of some of that control or need to control. Having said that, we can’t completely let go of control of our own lives and not take decisions, because that will be like surrendering ourselves to the impact of other factors on our path. In Stoicism, they talk about “Amor Fati” which is a Latin phrase meaning “Love your fate”. In literal sense, it means love whatever fate has in store for you (Stoicism doesn’t take it so literally). We need a middle ground to deal with things in life and be sane enough to enjoy it.

The first thing we need to do is “Momentum Amet” – Love the moment. No matter what is happening in our lives or around us, we need to be in that moment and love that moment. We might be in a very difficult and painful situation but we need to be aware that one way or the other, we have reached that stage or state at least partially because of the choices that we have made in the past. So we should love the output of those choices even if it is a painful one – because it is OURs, not anyone else’s. So this decision point that we have reached now is also only OURs and no one else’s. and that’s why, love the decision point and the decision – “Amor consilium”. Being in the moment and taking that decision at that specific time is the only thing we can do. We can not change our decisions in the past and we don’t know what the future holds for us. All we can do is think of a possible goal that we want to reach, and based on that make a best guess of which options or choices will take us towards the goal, and then take that decision. Our choice will take us forward towards another set of decisions and then another and another. We need to keep making choices in the future too. But that future and the set of choices we will face is not something we can predict. There’s no point in feeling anxious about it because we don’t know it. So, we need to concentrate only on current decision and love that decision once we have made it because it is OUR decision. No one else’s.

Once a decision is made, we cannot control the output of that decision. We have to then give up control. We have to let go of the need to control the output and accept and love the output or the next decision point that it leads to. This is how we should be interpreting “Amor Fati”. Loving your fate doesn’t mean giving up complete control of our life to fate. It is the acceptance of the outcome, once we have done our part.

Whether we reach our goal or where our lives lead to, is something that we cannot control. However, taking informed decisions at every decision point and then surrendering to the output that it brings. This will reduce the anxiety and stress and make our lives more fulfilling.

Momentum Amet – Love the moment

Amor Consilium – Love the decision/options

Amor Fati – Love the fate/output