Does free will actually exist? Or are we all just puppets to physics or biochemistry or some other form of determinism? A great essay over in Slate argues that free will is real, and that it evolved for a reason.
Image via Guy Incognito.
There is no need to insist that free will is some kind of magical violation of causality. Free will is just another kind of cause. The causal process by which a person decides whether to marry is simply different from the processes that cause balls to roll downhill, ice to melt in the hot sun, a magnet to attract nails, or a stock price to rise and fall.
The whole essay is well worth reading. [Slate]
