Choice

 The first real question I ever asked myself was whether we actually have free will.  Do we have an independent will or are all our choices, actions and thoughts simply controlled by physics? Are we just one complex algorithm?

We humans take for granted that others have free will and we generally like to think we are independent agents impacting our world and not just a "very complicated rock."

The one glaring exception is when we have a "bad habit" and we blame our upbringing, our circumstances, others, etc. Then it seems our free will isn't so free.

Now, this question is so fundamental and so crucial to how we evaluate ourselves and others, how we see history, policies, faith, our actions, etc., one would think that people would be concious of what they believed. But I don't find many who have even asked the question.

"Did that psychopath kill those people of his own free will," or "Did he have to because his algorithm make it unavoidable?" In the case of the psychopath the vastly overwhelming number of people would say it was his choice to do so.  On the other hand, if a child was sexually abused and as an adult avoids adequate prenatal care for her child in the womb, was it a free will choice? Or, were those childhood experiences silently directing her choices?

My fundamental question, however, doesn't come from observing people's actions. It comes from science and considering how the rest of the known universe operates. Everything in the universe seems to work with mathematical precision. Even in quantum physics where the "math" points to "miracles" we still understand them through the use of math. There is just some deeper physics we don't grasp going on. If you read the book Flat Land you will get an idea of "miracles" in a multidimensional world.

Anyway, is it reasonable to say that everything else in the world is the outworking of the laws of physics except what is going on inside our heads? Is it there alone that free will exists?