Free Will

Posted on 2014-01-29 Edited on 2023-09-29 Disqus: Word count in article: 1.3k Reading time ≈ 1 mins.

I don’t know when I first heard the term free will, but it feels like it’s been over a year.

Although I sometimes use this term, I have never really understood what it means.

I could easily Google it to find the answer, but I hesitated and wanted to try to understand it through my own perception.

I think I first heard this term in Dong Wu’s theory of relativity.

I encountered it in some books that followed.

I heard it again in BBC Hawking’s universe “we are all made of interstellar matter”.

It seems like it refers to rational reactions to external stimuli, rather than instinctive ones.

In “The 7 Habits,” the author of the inspiring and enlightening phrase quotes:

There is a space between stimulus and response.

In this space, we have the freedom and ability to choose our response.

Our growth and happiness depend on our response.

To be honest, when I read it, I didn’t feel anything, and I felt even more ignorant.

Then I saw the author’s explanation, the freedom to choose, and I couldn’t help but be amazed (in awe) - ah, the enlightenment has finally struck me.

Isn’t this free will?!

Before, I couldn’t understand it. I thought I would have some adventures while I’m young, but then I would settle down with a wife and kids, just like falling into a warm bed. It seemed like there was something different, but I couldn’t quite explain what.

This makes me think that it must be the difference between awakening to free will and simply reacting instinctively like ordinary creatures.

In silence, listen to the thunder.