Wikiphilosophers/Free will/S. Perquin

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Each falling domino is the consequence of the previous falling domino

Everything that happens has a cause. Every event occurs because of what happened in the past. Natural laws cause phenomena in the universe to succeed one another in the way they do, so does one's own actions. One cannot do anything other than what one does because one is stuck in the chain of cause-effect. When something happens to one, one starts thinking all kinds of things and acts accordingly. What one thinks and the way one thinks is the result of one's current understandings. Each situation creates new insights, so with each new situation one thinks and acts on these insights.

This means that all events are basically predetermined. In the beginning of our universe it was already established that events that were going to happen were going to happen. Therefore, everything can only go one way - the way it will go. Therefore, one does not possess free will, in the sense that she determines for herself what she thinks, feels and does. The idea that one is in control of oneself is only an illusion. Although it feels as if the things you think, feel and do come from you, they are actually caused by the laws of nature.