Having our own wills is just an illusion. All is chemistry, pre-ordained from the start of time by the motion of molecules. The Great Clockmaker has wound the machine, and will watch it spin out for a few billion years and then stop. Perhaps, to modify its mechanisms and wind it once more.
Absolutely, I think humans are deterministic, but there's a tiny modicum of some volitional choice in certain contexts.
If you are unaccustomed to gunshots and you suddenly hear one, odds are you will flee — this is a high-stakes scenario wherein your behaviour is somewhat deterministic.
When in low-stakes, such as interacting with a friend, the functionally infinite, contextual variables that you are subconsciously processing allow for a range of behaviours where you have volitional control; what you say, or do with them, for example. Is your decision in this context always pre-determined, or is this when our higher order thinking allows for more nuanced, "free will" control?
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u/_AcuteNewt_ 2h ago
If you watch humans enough, you'll notice the same.