It’s fascinating that belief systems from Christianity to Objectivism are so centered around the idea of free will. A recent study suggests that strong general support for free will is at least somewhat cross cultural. I can’t think of a group of people (besides philosophers / psychologists / scientists) who don’t believe in free will.
I’ve wondered for some time if there is an evolutionary basis for the concept of free will. As we learn more about how our genes, childhoods, and social surroundings effect us, it’s amazing we take free will seriously at all.
Is there something about believing in free will that makes you more moral? A couple new studies seem to suggest that hearing anti-free will quotes makes people behave less ethically. In fact, if you are read an anti-free will statement, you’re more likely to spice up a bland food lover’s food with more hot sauce than you otherwise would. Ouch!
The only critique I have with these studies is that they only presented hard determinism as an alternative to free will, not compatibilism. In fact, compatibilism seemed to be confused with free will at times. I bet that hearing about hard determinism is a lot more likely to make people act unethically than simply hearing anti-free will statements. I would like to see a study contrasting the effects of learning about hard determinism with the effects of learning about compatibilism.
