"Free Will vs Determinism: I Was Always Going to Write This"

Determinism Vs Freewill

It all started with a movie.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning.

Tom Cruise, the man who runs faster than most people think. The man who can jump off a cliff and still have better hair than I do on a Sunday morning.

Now, this isn’t your usual save-the-world-with-gadgets popcorn film (okay, it is... but also). This time, the villain isn’t a terrorist, a rogue agent, or an angry uncle from a previous mission. It’s an AI.

Not just any AI — one that knows everything. It anticipates your every move. Your thoughts, your decisions, your hesitations — all predicted, calculated, and countered in advance. It’s not fighting you, it’s fighting the illusion that you had any control in the first place.

And that, dear reader, was my popcorn-scented existential crisis.

🍿 “Free will? Or a very well-written script?”

As I walked out of the theatre (yes, I waited till the end credits — I’m that guy), a question hit me harder than Cruise hits the ground in slow motion:

“Am I actually choosing anything in my life? Or am I just acting out a pre-coded script?”

And like every self-respecting early-riser who believes that deep thoughts should always be paired with digestive tea, I went home and did the most dangerous thing one can do at 5:00 AM.

I picked up Robert Sapolsky’s “Determined.”

A book that basically tells you:

“Relax. You’ve never made a single real decision in your life. Your brain did it all. You’re just the guy signing the paperwork.”

Now here’s the scary part: It made sense.

Disturbingly, seductively, maddeningly... sense.

📖 “Was I destined to read this book?”

Here’s the kicker — I didn’t plan to read this book. It wasn’t on my wish list. I was just browsing for something light. Maybe a book about habits or happiness or how to stop overthinking why I replied ‘haha’ to a serious text.”

But there it was — sitting on the shelf like it knew.

“He’s coming. He won’t resist.”

And I didn’t. I picked it up. Did I choose it? Or had that decision already been made years ago — by a thousand factors I’ll never fully know? My brain chemistry. My browsing history.

My subconscious guilt over the second tea.

Was it me… or my algorithm?

Even now, while writing this blog, I can’t help but wonder:

• Is this my idea?

• Or is this just the natural next step in a chain of inevitable cause-effect loops stretching all the way from my ancient ancestors to this keyboard?

  
  

Maybe you didn’t even choose to read this. Maybe the neurons in your thumb were already halfway to scrolling before you felt “curious.”

This blog isn’t about solving the debate. It’s about enjoying the mess.

Free Will vs Determinism — the world’s most exhausting boxing match, where the gloves are made of brain tissue and the referee is your confused inner voice.

🟡 RANDOM EXAMPLES IN LIFE: Wait… Did I Even Choose That?

I set an alarm for 4:45 AM and wake up at 4:43 — did I choose that, or did my circadian rhythm decide it for me while I dreamt about samosas? I say no to cake at a party, then five minutes later I’m eating it mid-conversation — was that willpower failure, or did my glucose levels hijack my brain before my conscience could log in? One moment I’m replying to a WhatsApp text, next I’m stalking someone’s cousin on Instagram who now sells Himalayan salt lamps — who exactly is in charge here?

And don’t get me started on road rage — a peaceful me turns into a wild philosopher the moment someone overtakes like they’re on an F1 track. We laugh at dream logic, but sometimes real life feels no different: our thumbs scroll, our mouths respond, our carts fill up — and our so-called “decisions” feel more like beautifully rehearsed reactions. Which begs the question: are we really choosing… or just witnessing our neurons go about their day?

🟡 THE LOGIC BEHIND DETERMINISM: Sorry, You’re Just a Biological Domino

Let’s start with Benjamin Libet — the man who ruined many motivational posters. His experiment showed that your brain makes decisions milliseconds before you’re even aware of it. So, while you're proudly thinking, “I just decided to go to the gym,” your brain quietly smirks: “Sure, champ. I made that call 0.3 seconds ago.” Which means even your moment of “discipline” might’ve just been a well-timed electrical hiccup.

Then comes Robert Sapolsky, the neuroscientist who calmly says you’ve never had free will — not even when you chose between biryani and salad. He explains that everything you do is influenced by your genes, hormones, childhood trauma, gut bacteria, the heat outside, and possibly what your great-grandmother thought of the British. You’re not deciding — you’re reacting, very precisely, to everything that shaped you before you knew what shaping was.

Now, think of your brain as a Netflix algorithm. It notices your patterns: what you like, when you pause, where you stop watching — and based on that, it suggests what you’ll do next. Not just content… but conversations, careers, even relationships. It’s less “I chose my life” and more “Life was recommended to me in 4K Ultra HD.”

And don’t forget the neuroscience of habits — those well-worn brain pathways that activate before your awareness even clocks in. By the time you realize you’re eating chips or doomscrolling or saying “just 5 more minutes,” the action has already begun. You’re just the narrator, catching up.

So here’s the deal: determinism doesn’t say you’re lazy — it says you’re predictable. Comforting, right?

DETERMINISM, ACCORDING TO SAPOLSKY: YOU’RE NOT DRIVING — YOU’RE JUST HOLDING THE STEERING WHEEL

Robert Sapolsky, in his mind-twisting book Determined, doesn’t just say free will is limited — he says it doesn’t exist. At all.

And not in a “you kind of don’t have it” way. In a “you never had it, even when you thought you did” way.

Here’s his logic, made beautifully uncomfortable:

🧠 1. Your Brain Decides Before You Do

Science shows that by the time you decide, your brain has already made the call. You’re just showing up for the press conference.

🧬 2. You’re Built, Not Self-Made

Hormones, childhood, genetics, stress, sleep, what your mom ate while pregnant — it’s all shaping you. You didn’t choose any of that. But all of that is choosing you, every day.

🧍 3. People Don’t Choose Who They Become

A monk and a murderer didn’t make opposite choices. They just had opposite lives, full of forces they never asked for.

⚖️ 4. So... Now What?

Sapolsky says we should replace blame with compassion, especially in how we treat people who fail, fall, or break the law. He admits: yes, it’s hard to live like this. Emotionally. But scientifically? He says it’s the most honest way to understand humans.

It’s not the most feel-good philosophy. But it does explain a lot… especially why we say “I don’t know why I did that” more often than we’d like to admit.

The biggest logic of determinism is this: “If you rewind the universe and play it again from the same starting point, you will behave the exact same way—every time. Because you were never the author to begin with.”

🟡 THE LOGIC BEHIND FREE WILL: Maybe You Didn’t Write the Book, But You Can Still Choose the Page

Alright, determinism had its fun — now let’s give Free Will a fighting chance.

Enter the philosophers who say: “Yes, the universe may have laws… but within those laws, you get to dance. ”This is called Compatibilism — the idea that free will can exist within a deterministic framework, like a video game where you can roam freely, but only within the boundaries of the map. Or like a marriage.

Thinkers like Daniel Dennett argue that even if your past shaped you, you still have a say in what you do next. You're not a helpless puppet — you're a well-informed puppet with internet access and a prefrontal cortex.

Here’s my twist as a mind trainer: You might not control your first impulse, but you can train the gap between impulse and action. That tiny moment — the milliseconds between “I want cake” and “I won’t eat cake” — that’s where Free Will lives. It’s not grand and dramatic. It’s microscopic. But it’s yours. You don’t need to win against the whole system — just interrupt it for 3 seconds and make one better choice.

Think of life as a Choose Your Own Adventure book. Yes, all the pages are already written. But you still get to pick which one you turn to next. And sure, maybe the ending’s the same… but you can change the font, underline some parts, maybe doodle in the margins.

That 4:45 AM wake-up? Maybe I didn’t choose the urge. But I chose to listen to it. Or ignore it. Or hit snooze and write about it later in this blog.

So maybe free will isn’t loud. Maybe it’s just a quiet voice in the middle of habit, saying, “Let’s try something different today.”

IF DETERMINISM WAS UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED: The World Would Be a Comedy of Excuses

Imagine a world where everyone agrees free will doesn’t exist. Now imagine the level of chaos, creativity, and confident excuse-making that would follow.

“I didn’t forget our anniversary. My dopamine levels dipped at the wrong time.”– Husband, now sleeping on the sofa… again.

“I didn’t ghost you. My nervous system simply froze in fear of unresolved childhood patterns.”– Guy on Tinder, currently reading memes instead of texting back.

“I didn’t study, sir. The future version of me already knew I wouldn’t become an engineer.”– Student, proudly submitting blank answer sheet.

In a world like this, courts would be empty, marriages would be fragile, and parenting would sound like this:

“He bit another kid, but it’s not his fault. He was genetically expressing dominance.”

Even HR departments would be chaos:

“Why were you late?” “Traffic jam, cortisol spike, and ancestral response to sunlight. Not my fault.”

Now imagine if God was just a coder. You’re not living life — you’re inside a simulation running Version 9.2 with a minor bug called “Free Will Illusion Patch. ”You think you’re choosing a career, but your code was already optimized for PowerPoint presentations and evening walks.

We’d all be like characters in a cosmic video game…Screaming, “I choose my path! ”While the universe quietly whispers, “Press X to repeat behavior.”

🟡 HOW TO APPROACH DETERMINISM WITHOUT GOING NUMB: A Survival Guide for Overthinking Humans

So let’s say determinism is real. Let’s say your brain has been running the show this whole time like a sneaky event planner who forgot to copy you on the email.

Now what? Do you just give up, lie on the floor, and wait for the next decision to happen to you?

Not really. Here’s how to live with determinism without becoming a background character in your own life:

🎯 1. Use It as a Mirror, Not a Dead End

Don’t say “I’m like this, can’t help it. ”Say “I’m wired like this… now let me rewire it slightly and see what happens.”

Even if your brain is a machine, machines can be trained. After all, your morning tea ritual was also once a random act — now it’s a full-blown ceremony.

🧠 2. Hack the Delay Window (a.k.a. Mind Trainer’s Gap)

You may not control the first thought (“Eat the cake”),But you can intercept the next half-second and go:

“Not now. I want to fit into my jeans this month.”

That’s where Free Will hides — not in your grand life decisions, but in microscopic hesitation moments.

A pause. A breath. A smirk. Sometimes, that’s all it takes to shift an outcome.

🧘‍♂️ 3. Be a Co-Author, Not Just a Reader

Okay, fine — maybe your story is pre-written. But you can still underline the lines that matter, scribble notes in the margins, and fold the corners of your favorite pages.

You may not change the plot. But you can change your presence in it.

😂 4. Laugh at the System (Sometimes, That’s the Only Free Action You Get)

When something goes wrong, say:

“That was probably coded into my day by a tired version of the universe.”

Then drink water, walk it off, and try again.

After all, if you were meant to fail forever, you wouldn’t have made it this far into this blog.

So no, you don’t have to go numb. You just need to stay playful, curious, and a little dangerous with how seriously you take your wiring.

Remember — even in a deterministic universe…

You’re still the only one who gets to react with style.

🟡  CONCLUSION: REALITY IS CUSTOMIZED (AND SO IS YOUR MESS)

Here’s something I truly believe — and it’s probably the most Santhosh Sivaraj thing I’ll ever say:

There is no such thing as “Reality.” There’s only your reality and my reality… and they rarely match, except maybe when we both crave filter coffee at 4 PM.

It’s like everyone’s living inside their own customized YouTube homepage. You scroll through life, thinking you're seeing the “truth,” but you're really just seeing the algorithm of your past experiences, fears, memories, and favorite types of rasam.

That’s why two people can sit through the same conversation, and one walks away inspired… while the other walks away offended. Because they weren’t in the same moment. They were in two different mental Instagram reels, just overlapping briefly.

So when we argue about Free Will vs Determinism, it’s kind of like arguing about whether red is more “red” to me or to you.

Even if life is a train on a fixed track, you can still decide how you sit, what you read, who you smile at, and whether you look out the window or scroll Instagram for the 17th time today.

So whether you believe in fate, free will, brain chemistry, or cosmic Wi-Fi — here’s what I know:

You didn’t reach this point in the blog by accident. And I didn’t write it by choice either (probably).

But we’re both here. Laughing, questioning, reading, noticing.

And that — for me — is as real as reality gets.

🔮 Next Week on the Blog...

“Meet the Real Boss: The Subconscious Mind (a.k.a. The Guy Who Makes Decisions While You Think You’re in Charge)”

Ever walked into a room and forgotten why?Ever liked someone for no logical reason?Ever opened Instagram and suddenly you're buying a Himalayan salt lamp?

Yeah… that wasn’t you. That was your subconscious — the silent operator running 90% of your life while letting you believe you're the CEO.

Next week, we deep-dive into the real ruler of your mind:📦 It never sleeps,🎬 It plays old reruns of your childhood,🧠 And it might be why you crave chai every time someone says “meeting.”

Stay tuned… your conscious mind won’t see it coming.