Am I really making choices and exercising my free will when I think I am? Or is the choice I’m about to make in any moment just the result of factors I’m not aware of? Perhaps like the way that a tree will bend as it grows is influenced by where the sunlight is coming from, the wind, etc
Is believing that there is no free will, no choice, simply a way to avoid responsibility for anything? You were fated to do it? Pre-determined to do it?
I actually think that choice is real and an illusion at the same time. Paradox 🙂 At the highest level of consciousness there is everything is known. But maybe at the highest level of consciousness there is the choice was made to create the conditions for beings to believe that there is choice, that there is unknowns
I think that up at much higher levels of consciousness (the Universe, Source, God, All That Is) where beings are aware of factors and influences that I am not aware of, and perhaps cannot comprehend, what seems to be my choice to me is simply a natural result of all of those factors and influences
Which choice I make is like an equation. From my level of consciousness there are many unknown variables in the equation, so the choice I make seems random, like whether I choose to put on my blue T-shirt or my green T-shirt in the morning. But I think at higher levels of consciousness those variables are known
A super simplified example. From my perspective my choice equation could look like this: a + 7b + 3c = x. If I am not consciously aware of, and if other humans don’t know, what A, B, and C are then of course when I make my choice of X it’s going to be a surprise. It will seem vengeful, arbitrary, selfless, sensible or anything in between. But what if Beings at a higher level of consciousness perceive my same choice equation as this: (5) + 7(-11) + 3(8) = x. If the values for those variables are known, even a human can see that X is going to be -48.
If our choices are the result of equations then what use is judgment? -48 isn’t mean, honourable, compassionate, deceitful, or loving. -48 is simply the result of the equation when you plug in the values 5, -11, and 8
Maybe how many variables in a choice equation that we are aware of is an indication of a being’s level of consciousness
At a human being’s level of consciousness we are aware that some things are not choices, but believe the others are.
We can chose to limit our choices. For example, when we play basketball we make a choice to eliminate our option of running around without dribbling the ball. Of course, during the game we could choose to just pick up the ball and just run, but we don’t. That’s not within the rules we have chosen to follow. We accept before we enter the game that that is no longer an option, and we chose to act like that isn’t an option for the duration of the game. When we play chess we choose not to move the knight in a straight line, in tennis we agree that we can’t catch the ball and throw it back over the net at our opponent, in rugby we agree that we can’t pass the ball forward to our teammates, and in baseball we agree that a batter must touch all three bases in order before crossing home plate
