Privacy and cookies policy

1. Introduction
We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our website visitors.
This policy applies where we are acting as a data controller with respect to the personal data of our website visitors that is supplied through this website; in other words, where we determine the purposes and means of the processing of that personal data.
We use cookies on our website. Insofar as required by applicable law, we will ask you to consent to our use of cookies when you first visit our website. For more information about managing cookies, see Section 14.
More information about us and our handling of your personal data is set out in our terms and conditions.
2. How we use your personal data
In the table below and elsewhere in this Section 2 we have set out:
  • the general categories of personal data that we may process;
  • in the case of personal data that we did not obtain directly from you, the source and specific categories of that data;
  • the purposes for which we may process personal data; and
  • the legal bases of the processing.
Category
Description
Source
Purposes
Legal basis
Usage data
This is data about your use of our website and services, and may include your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths, as well as information about the timing, frequency and pattern of your service use
Our analytics tracking system
Analysing the use of the website and services
Legitimate interests, namely monitoring and improving our website and services
Account data
User account data with respect to our website
You
Operating our website, providing our services, ensuring the security of our website and services, maintaining back-ups of our databases and communicating with you
Legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business
Publication data
Information that you post for publication on our website or through our services
You
Enabling publication and administering our website and services
Legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business
Enquiry data
Information contained in any enquiry you submit to us regarding our products or otherwise
You
Offering, marketing and selling relevant products to you
Consent
Transaction data
Information relating to transactions, including purchases of goods and services, that you enter into with us and/or through our website
You
Supplying the purchased products and keeping proper records of the transactions
The performance of a contract between you and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract and our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business
Notification data
Information that you provide to us for the purpose of subscribing to our email notifications and/or newsletters
You
Sending you the relevant notifications and/or newsletters
Consent
We may process any of your personal data identified in this policy where necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the protection and assertion of our legal rights, your legal rights and the legal rights of others.
We may process any of your personal data identified in this policy where necessary for the purposes of obtaining or maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks, or obtaining professional advice. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper protection of our business against risks.
In addition to the specific purposes for which we may process your personal data set out in this Section 2, we may also process any of your personal data where such processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.
Please do not supply any other person's personal data to us, unless we prompt you to do so.
3. Providing your personal data to others
We may disclose your personal data to our insurers and/or professional advisers insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes of obtaining or maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks, obtaining professional advice, or the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure.
We may disclose your personal data, directly or indirectly, to our cloud services, hosting services, backup services and communications services providers, to enable them to provide those services.
We may also disclose your personal data to the third parties identified elsewhere on our website insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes identified.
In addition to the specific disclosures of personal data set out in this Section 3, we may disclose your personal data where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person. We may also disclose your personal data where such disclosure is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure.
4. International transfers of your personal data
In this Section 4 and elsewhere on our website, we provide information about the circumstances in which your personal data may be transferred from a location within the European Economic Area (EEA) to a location outside the EEA.
In particular, we may make transfers to Australia, the Philippines, Singapore, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and/or the United States of America for the purpose of enabling the provision of hosting, back-up and content delivery services. These transfers will be protected by appropriate safeguards, namely the use of the standard contractual clauses (https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/data-transfers-outside-eu/model-contracts-transfer-personal-data-third-countries_en) and/or the Privacy Shield scheme (https://www.privacyshield.gov).
You acknowledge that personal data that you submit for publication through our website or services may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use (or misuse) of such personal data by others.
5. Retaining and deleting personal data
Personal data that we process for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes. For more information about our data retention and deletion policies, see our contact page.
Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Section 5, we may retain your personal data where such retention is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.
6. Security of personal data
We will take appropriate technical and organisational precautions to secure your personal data and to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal data.
Data relating to financial transactions that is sent from your web browser to our web server, or from our web server to your web browser, will be protected using encryption technology.
You acknowledge that the transmission of unencrypted (or inadequately encrypted) data over the internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data sent over the internet.
You should ensure that any password you may use for our website is not susceptible to being guessed, whether by a person or a computer program. You are responsible for keeping the password you use for accessing our website confidential and we will not ask you for your password (except when you log in to our website).
7. Amendments
We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.
You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes to this policy.
8. Your rights
In this Section 8, we have summarised the rights that you have under data protection law. Some of the rights are complex, and not all of the details have been included in our summaries. Accordingly, you should read the relevant laws and guidance from the regulatory authorities for a full explanation of these rights.
Your principal rights under data protection law are:
  • the right to access;
  • the right to rectification;
  • the right to erasure;
  • the right to restrict processing;
  • the right to object to processing;
  • the right to data portability;
  • the right to complain to a supervisory authority; and
  • the right to withdraw consent.
You have the right to confirmation as to whether or not we process your personal data and, where we do, access to the personal data, together with certain additional information. That additional information includes details of the purposes of the processing, the categories of personal data concerned and the recipients of the personal data. Providing the rights and freedoms of others are not affected, we will supply to you a copy of your personal data. The first copy will be provided free of charge, but additional copies may be subject to a reasonable fee.
You have the right to have any inaccurate personal data about you rectified and, taking into account the purposes of the processing, to have any incomplete personal data about you completed.
In some circumstances you have the right to the erasure of your personal data without undue delay. Those circumstances include: the personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed; you withdraw consent to consent-based processing; you object to the processing under certain rules of applicable data protection law; the processing is for direct marketing purposes; and the personal data have been unlawfully processed. However, there are exclusions of the right to erasure. The general exclusions include where processing is necessary: for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information; for compliance with a legal obligation; or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
In some circumstances you have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data. Those circumstances are: you contest the accuracy of the personal data; processing is unlawful but you oppose erasure; we no longer need the personal data for the purposes of our processing, but you require personal data for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; and you have objected to processing, pending the verification of that objection. Where processing has been restricted on this basis, we may continue to store your personal data. However, we will only otherwise process it: with your consent; for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person; or for reasons of important public interest.
You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation, but only to the extent that the legal basis for the processing is that the processing is necessary for: the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of any official authority vested in us; or the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party. If you make such an objection, we will cease to process the personal information unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights and freedoms, or the processing is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes (including profiling for direct marketing purposes). If you make such an objection, we will cease to process your personal data for this purpose.
You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data for scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes on grounds relating to your particular situation, unless the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out for reasons of public interest.
To the extent that the legal basis for our processing of your personal data is:
  • consent; or
  • that the processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are party or in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract,
and such processing is carried out by automated means, you have the right to receive your personal data from us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. However, this right does not apply where it would adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.
If you consider that our processing of your personal information infringes data protection laws, you have a legal right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority responsible for data protection. You may do so in the EU member state of your habitual residence, your place of work or the place of the alleged infringement.
To the extent that the legal basis for our processing of your personal information is consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing before the withdrawal.
You may exercise any of your rights in relation to your personal data by written notice to us.
9. Third party websites
Our website includes hyperlinks to, and details of, third party websites.
We have no control over, and are not responsible for, the privacy policies and practices of third parties.
10. Updating information
Please let us know if the personal information that we hold about you needs to be corrected or updated.
11. About cookies and local storage
A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.
Cookies may be either "persistent" cookies or "session" cookies: a persistent cookie will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date; a session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.
Cookies do not typically contain any information that personally identifies a user, but personal information that we store about you may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from cookies.
Local storage is the storage of data sent by our web server to your web browser. This data is not sent back to the web server.
12. Cookies and local storage that we use
We use cookies for the following purposes:
  • authentication - we use cookies to identify you when you visit our website and as you navigate our website;
  • ecommerce and shopping cart - we use cookies to enable the functioning of our ecommerce systems and to maintain the state of your shopping cart;
  • analysis - we use cookies to help us to analyse the use and performance of our website and services; and
  • cookie consent - we use cookies to store your preferences in relation to the use of cookies more generally.
We use local storage for the following purposes:
  • browser tab synchronisation - to synchronise state, available features and limits between different web browser tabs;
  • save settings - to save your sidebar lock / unlock settings; and
  • ecommerce – to facilitate ecommerce functionality.
13. Cookies used by our service providers
Our service providers use cookies and those cookies may be stored on your computer when you visit our website.
We use Google Analytics to analyse the use of our website. Google Analytics gathers information about website use by means of cookies. The information gathered relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of our website. Google's privacy policy is available at: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.
Cloudflare is used to identify malicious visitors to our website, to reduce the chance of blocking legitimate users, and to provide customised services. For these purposes, Cloudflare uses a cookie. Find out more about the Cloudflare cookies at https://www.cloudflare.com/cookie-policy/.
14. Managing cookies
Our website includes cookie management options. For these purposes, there are two different categories of cookies. First, cookies that are necessary for the operation of our website and the provision of our services. Second, cookies that we use for analytics purposes. To use our website and services, your browser must accept the necessary cookies. However, you may accept or reject the analytics cookies. You can manage the cookies that you accept from our website.
Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies and to delete cookies. The methods for doing so vary from browser to browser, and from version to version. You can however obtain up-to-date information about blocking and deleting cookies via these links:
Blocking all cookies will have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites.
If you block cookies, you will not be able to use all the features on our website.
The opulent dance between cause and effect: things are the way they are because of what happened yesterday, and every other yesterday. Rewind all the way to the very first possible moment until: The First State of the First Thing. Some say this First Thing was matter, and more call it mind.
Whether the First Thing was matter or mind, it either:1. always existed or 2. spontaneously came into existence. There are no other options. Either way, there could not have been anything before, including a reason, purpose or cause for the First Thing. Since nothing could have existed before the First Thing (including a reason or purpose), existence itself cannot have an objective, independent reason outside of any purpose or reason that existence makes for itself.

The First Thing could have been: 1. A point of matter in the middle of nothing;2. A god; 3. Matter and consciousness in one, exploring the nothing around it.
But no matter what it was, it appeared spontaneously or always existed. Either way, nothing could have existed before it, including a cause. Although it may be hard to fathom how or why something can exist without being caused, there is no other logical option. If the First Thing was a single Mind (a Creator) which always existed and always had a purpose for itself, it would be profound to discover that Creator’s reason for creating everything. However, there is still “No prior Reason or Cause” as to why the original Mind always existed or what caused It to spontaneously exist. If a Creator existed and created everything in a deterministic universe, and now that Creator does not exist at all, it could be said that the purpose of all things currently existing is that Creator’s purpose. However, the reason as to why there is something and not nothing, is still “no reason” because the First Thing (in this case a Creator) still had to exist first, without a prior cause or reason. Hunting for a reason to why there is something and not nothing, logic convinces me that an answer cannot exist. Since nothing could have existed before the First Thing, the answer to the question must be that existence is simply a fact for which there isn’t a cause. I was concerned about this, but my concern has turned to optimism. Now I feel free to define my own purpose, meaning and reasons for existence.
CHAPTER 2AN ANSWER NEVER CONTEMPLATED, NEVER EXISTED Logic inevitably dispatches me towards the resolution that a reason for the First Thing to exist is not even possible. If I consider the possibility that the matter that existed as a point before the big bang always existed, inflating and deflating, or even spontaneously coming in and out of existence, it can be envisioned in my imagination. What I cannot imagine, is a possible cause for it. It feels weird that there was no purpose to start all of existence. It feels this way because I enjoy thinking of goals, assigning purpose and plan, and achieving. But if you think about it, how else would a Universe without a purpose feel? Things exist and we don’t know why. If there was no reason for the Universe, there is no other way the Universe would present itself. You would find yourself existing and having only ambiguous information about how and why, you and everything exists. It is the only answer which accords with all perceptions. Conversely, an answer to the Purpose of the entire Universe that is clearly correct is just not apparent. If the Universe had an initial purpose, conscious thinking beings should have better insight into that purpose, instead of treading water in an endless sea of wonder. What would be the reason for keeping such a thing secret? It is antithetical to hide a universal purpose. As a thinking being, the Universe should let me in on the secret if such a secret exists. Instead, I and everybody else, just wonder why we are here. At some point, the possibility that there is no objective answer should be considered. If there is one universal purpose of life, I don’t know it without a doubt, and no one I know of knows it either. For a universal purpose of life to exist, this purpose must exist in something’s mind. Otherwise, it doesn’t exist. CREATOR OR NO CREATOR- DOES IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE? If there is no cause for the existence of a Creator, and said Creator had a reason for creating everything else, the entire realm of this Universe and the realm of the Creator, taken together, does not have an ultimate initial cause. On the other hand, if there is no Creator, then matter either spontaneously appeared or always existed- leading us to the same result- no reason for the emergence of matter in the Universe, and consciousness is free to find its own meaning and purpose. The purpose of a mind would then be whatever is planned and brought to fruition; whether it is for a lifetime, year, hour or whatever amount of time dedicated to a goal.
I experienced a short-term reason for existing one day when I planted a garden. A Creator could have a different long-term purpose for me and my garden. If a Creator made this Universe, He had a purpose for making it, but there are several other minds that also have purposes for this Universe, many of which are valid. CHAPTER 3
THE MEANING OF MATTER Purpose, meaning, and reason, are thoughts, not physical matter. Words written on paper are matter, but they are also thoughts with meaning when someone considers them. A mind is necessary for purpose, meaning, or reason to exist. A meaning, purpose or reason could not exist before a mind existed.
It appears there are now enlightened minds making reasons for their existence and the existence of everything else, including eternity. In the absence of a universal objective purpose, these reasons can be valid.
I opine that minds exist, even on other planets or realms, that have purposes greater than what I can imagine. The beauty of this natural miracle is that more than one purpose for eternity, infinity and the universe can exist simultaneously.
THE ANT COLONY If a Being created an ant colony to dig through his soil and make it fertile, an individual ant may see its individual purpose as carrying a single grain of sand from point A to point B. If an ant:1. experienced the idea of planning to carry the grain of sand from one spot to another, 2. and then finishes it, 3. it is impossible to say the ant was wrong about its purpose, although another being had an alternate, but compatible purpose for the ant.

If someone:1. contemplates a reason for doing something, 2. plans a deterministic method, 3. and achieves their goal, they accurately experienced a purpose for their existence, even if it is relevant only to the being thinking it.
Any plan that comes to fruition is a correct interpretation of a purpose of one’s life. Following through and making plans happen is what makes life meaningful.
CRISSCROSSING REASONS Everybody is using different things and different people for their own purpose in a grand crisscrossing cornucopia of reasons. In the course of achieving a goal, I may employ other people to achieve a purpose I have in mind. These other people agree to work with me for their own reasons.
One of the popular philosophical views is that the purpose of life is to attain happiness; but the way people achieve happiness varies. A politician giving a silly speech makes me laugh, although the politician’s purpose for giving the speech was not for comedy, but for social change. Reasons are often individually unique. Person A’s reasons sometimes change over time and so does person B’s perspective. I can employ different people to achieve my goals, while other minds use things that I do to effectuate their own goals. A person’s life has different meanings to as many beings that contemplate that person.
All things can have different purposes. Television sets, an item that a salesman sells to put food on his table, is also used by preachers to promote belief and worship in God. A stone can be art or a paper weight. Existence is a grand symphony of compatible reasons and purposes. With this in mind, it is clear that there cannot be a single reason, meaning or purpose for all things that exist.
CHAPTER 4TO KNOW THE PURPOSE OF EVERYTHINGI would love to be able to consider every facet of the entire universe all at once. In that manner, I could consider a purpose for the entire thing. But there is an upper limit to what I can envisage. The Universe as a whole represents sacred wonder to me, and its purpose to me is the continual discovery; but it is apparent that there are aspects which will always escape my finding.
THE BARE BLUNT TRUTHPeople can only appreciate a meaning of life from their own point of view. I have to decipher everything through my own mind. A plethora search for a signal that holds and makes sure that everybody knows and understands a universal meaning of existence. As long as the source of the signal continues to be debated, each person has no choice but to adopt their own purpose. While such separation between minds elicits a certain sense of loneliness, it is this separation that gives each individual the right to claim their own meaning of existence. While we can influence each other to adopt certain proposed meanings of life, each individual ultimately has no choice but to rely on their own interpretation.
THE ONE LENS TO PEER THROUGH The interpretations I have relied upon have evolved with age and time. Even if there is a grander meaning of life, it still needs to be contemplated by each mind for the “meaning” to exist for everybody. If I speculate as to what is behind the mind of a Creator or any other being, I’m still left with no other choice but to rely on my own mind for understanding or meaning.
When I realize that information in the mind of a potential Creator is mysterious, and the perspectives of other people are diverse, it is impossible for me to fathom a universal meaning of existence; but it is possible to contemplate my own purpose and meaning of my perceptions. I conclude that I must decide for myself what the purpose and meaning of life is: there is no other choice in the matter. And if I don’t decide, life will be meaningless to me.
CHAPTER 5THE REASONABLE MOVEMENT OF MATTERWhen Descartes exclaimed “I think, therefore I am,” he proved that the existence of his thought is undoubtable; but the existence of anything else can be doubted. This means:1. Matter is reasonably believed to exist. 2. Thoughts are reasonably known to exist. The purpose of life is in the category of an idea, thought, or contemplation. It is not matter, even if matter is believed to be necessary to cause thoughts. Thoughts are distinctive qualia from matter and its movements. In fact, all matter could be a figment of imagination. Therefore, existence of thought is more grounded in reality than the existence of matter. But matter makes its presence felt, notwithstanding any doubt. If matter organized in such fashion that brought about the consciousness we experience, then it is matter that began to:1. contemplate a goal,2. plan to get the goal,3. score the goal,and thus a purpose emerged where it did not exist before matter organized into a mind. When atoms move without a mind contemplating them, there is no purpose or meaning. However, when the movement of matter in a mind creates the emergence of a mind than can contemplate a purpose for existence, a potential purpose of life comes into existence. THE EXAMPLE OF LUNCH If the movement of atoms causes a person to believe that her purpose is to eat lunch at a restaurant, the subject will contemplate a plan for leaving her home and getting lunch from a restaurant. At that moment, she has contemplated a purpose for her life. If she is successful in getting lunch as she planned, then she accurately knew one of the purposes of her life. This is true whether there is any Free Will or not. It is the knowing and planning before a goal happens that is the knowing of a purpose of life and reason for existing. Sometimes a reason for existing is a good lunch.
MOVING WITH AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE I have never seen a being that displays knowledge of the purpose of life and effectuates it with significant control over the mechanics of the world. However, the term “God” usually refers to a being with such power. If there is a superior being who has his own purpose for a deterministic universe, the universe is destined to bring it to fruition no matter what we think. If the Universe is deterministic, our thoughts will not affect the predestined outcome, but our thoughts can be valid short-term reasons for life if they are compatible with the laws of the deterministic universe. If there isn’t such a plan by a superior being, then the purposes we imagine, plan and bring to fruition are the only purposes of life, whether there is any Free Will or not. DEPENDANT ON DETERMINISM For a plan to work, a level of determinism must be part of the equation. Otherwise, the result could never be purposefully attained, only accidentally. If there is a realistic purpose for the entire universe, the universe would have to be substantially deterministic. Otherwise, this “purpose” would only be an idea which may not come to fruition. If the Universe is not substantially deterministic, then no one can be sure that the “purpose of all existence” will come to fruition. Without a deterministic universe, any purpose for setting in motion the wheels of life, may only be a hopeful idea.
USE IT, BUT DON’T ABUSE IT People can use each other for different reasons. If I build a barn because I want to house livestock, it doesn’t matter to me that another mind wants me to build a barn because he does not want a tree to grow in the space where I put my barn. The important part is that my purpose does not need to change unless it is contrary to another entity’s purpose and I’m forced to be aware of the difference. In this sense, there is nothing stopping me from interpreting a purpose for my life, other than what I am capable of achieving.
CHANGE TO SPARE Today I want to be alive and comfortable. But just as moods change, people are dynamic in their reasons. Generally striving for happiness, but also capable of violence, anger, and destruction. Reasons encompass the entire range of emotions. But to truly be the cause of something, you need an element of Free Will to put together a deterministic course.

FREE WILL


In the broadest sense, Free Will is the ability to do whatever you want, uncontrolled. Limits to Free Will are facts because our options are predetermined. I would fly across the universe to see the other side, but I realize I must have:1. air 2. water 3. food4. shelter5. exercise6. time7. love.Just as a science will only work because of predictability, earth is where I dwell. I try to imagine the other side, but I seem limited by the synthesis of what I already know.
However, there is hope for Free Will. The plain proof of Free Will is the feeling of choices made, and thoughts had, which no one could foresee. This alone does not prove Free Will, but determinism cannot be complete without complete predictability. Today’s scientific arts are far from perfect predictors, especially when forecasting the roots of thought. Pure Determinism is theory. Compatibilism describes what I actually experience. Many of my thoughts correlate with my desire, and often there is no other information regarding the roots of those thoughts to consider. MAKING CHOICES WITH MATTER A will is a desire. A desire is a type of thought. Just like a reason or a purpose, a will is not matter. The agent capable of contemplating desire is the mind. The mindful defy the laws of physics. Lifting one’s hand against gravity proves the presence of a mind, and therefore a will.
Science describes the mind as matter existing within the laws of physics, but science also ascribes the mind as having the power of neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity includes the brain’s ability to make connections between points of brain matter by consciously thinking about certain subjects. If valid, this means that there is a loop between matter in the brain, and the consciousness created thereby. They both affect each other.
 COMPELLED BY PHYSICS One day I wanted to quit smoking, but it seemed that my will was subdued by villainous tobacco. I heard of a medication which would help me quit. I took it and I quit smoking. In the process, I noticed that part of me wanted to quit smoking, and another part did not want to quit. There were 2 distinct and opposite “Wills” in my mind: both believed to be caused by the same laws of physics.
One Will within me used medicine to subdue and compel another Will within me. The fact that there were two opposite desired “Wills” indicates that there could not be a uniform control. The Will that subdued the smoking desire, is potentially free. While it can be argued that logic itself compelled me to quit smoking, I had ignored logic for many years before I chose to quit.
THE TIE BREAKER I had steak for lunch. Because I had steak for lunch, I want vegetables for dinner. I believe my desire for a vegetable dinner is controlled by physics. But consider if Free Will exists when choices are equally compelled by physics.
Here is the banal choice between the left door and the right door. I comb my memory to help me remember which door I have chosen before, and which door renders more positive outcomes. For this to help me choose wisely, my memory must be accurate. My memory is not accurate. Undaunted, I make a choice. My choice between the 2 equal doors is either the product of randomness, or the product of Free Will. Neither one can be excluded. Randomness is not a cause. It is the absence of a cause. I surmise that Free Will is the cause of such a choice.
CHAPTER 7BENJAMIN LIBET’S DOUBLE BLIND PLACEBO CONTROLLED SCIENTIFIC STUDY ON FREE WILL Free Will was scientifically studied by Benjamin Libet in the 1980’s. He brilliantly showed that electromagnetic brain activity increased before a conscious decision to move was made by a person. By studying this brain activity, Libet accurately predicted when a person was going to have a conscious decision to move a finger. However, even if the movement of matter in the brain makes one move, this does not negate Free Will. While a Will is not matter, matter can have a Will. Even if the vast majority of our behaviors are otherwise predictable, it would be an error to now conclude that there is no Free Will. This is not the current state of the science. We are not able to predict all behaviors in a placebo controlled double-blind experiment, or any experiment. Until all behaviors are accurately predictable, I cannot surmise that there is no Free Will. My empirical analysis of scientific study on the issue of Free Will, shows that there is a great degree of determinism, but Free Will has not been eliminated.


THERE CAN’T BE A NEFARIOUS CONTROLLING BEING Some people believe that another being controls human thoughts, and therefore there is no Free Will. This notion is impossible because a person can have an absolute sincere desire for Free Will. If a being were controlling my will, my desire for Free Will is the opposite desire of the controlling being’s desire. Even if the controlling being wanted me to desire Free Will, the controller’s purpose for causing that desire in me is not honest. Conversely, my desire for Free Will is sincere. Having the opposite desires means having your own unique will.
THE DEFENSE OF FREE WILL In deciding whether or not any Free Will exists, consider the two elements of life which can be responsible for behaviors and actions: 1. the self (Free Will) or 2. the mechanics of the Universe (determinism). Consider that the self is the only entity which is absolutely known to exist. When Rene Descartes coined his maxim, “I think, therefore I am,” the self is regarded as one’s thoughts, not one’s body. It is only thoughts which are known to undoubtedly exist and a “will” is one of the thoughts that we have. When ascribing responsibility for personal behaviors and thoughts, people’s Wills are either controlled by their own thoughts (which are known to certainly exist) or physical mechanical forces (which may not exist as matter could be a figment of thought). As a general rule, when deciding between two factors which may be a cause of an effect, the cause which is sure to exist should take precedence over a cause which may not exist altogether. Since only the self is sure to exist, the default position should be to ascribe thoughts and ambitions to the self, and not anything else whose entire existence is questionable.


THE CHOICES WE ARE COMPELLED TO MAKEThe more I learn the more I can predict things, but I can’t predict everything, and that will continue. Some like to respond to this by opining that all things could be predictable if we had enough information about the Universe. This may be true, but we won’t know if this is true, unless that actually happens. Until then, I must call it as I, and everybody sees it: People’s thoughts and behaviors aren’t predictable. The subjective feeling of Free Will may be flawed at times, but the feeling exists, and everything that exists is part of the answer. Any theory of a purely deterministic world remains unproven and Compatibilism is the only model that explains everything observed in the lab and in everyday experience. Consider the path of a hurricane and the way people will react to learning about it: the major events for the people in the way of the hurricane could be predicted, but every thought an individual had during the event is not predictable, even using the finest instruments and strictest logic. Unless science proves that it can, in fact predict a substantial number of thoughts and behaviors, Compatibilism is the choice response to the question of Free Will

POINT OF VIEWI wonder why things exist, so I searched for what caused the First State of the First Thing to exist. I discovered that “No Reason” is the only possible answer because:1. whether it was a god or matter, the First Thing2. had always existed, or appeared spontaneously. 3. Either way, there could not have been anything that existed before, including a reason or purpose. The ancient question, “Why do things exist at all?” has never been answered because no answer can exist. I have the right to choose a reason for existence, since there is no other reason I could know. There are people who have a purpose for me, and I can find a purpose for myself and everything else. My point of view may be different from your point of view. But in this sense, there are as many reasons for existence as there are conscious minds. People’s different reasons for existing need to be compatible to avoid conflicts. Compatibilism reigns supreme as determinism has yet to be completely proven. I observe, and the world showed reasons. I pondered one of those reasons, added to it and made something happen. Then I found reasons for my own existence. Purpose, reason, meaning and will exist, but only as thoughts in the mind; without a mind, they don’t exist at all. Existence as a whole did not have a purpose to begin with; but now my mind must define its own purpose or live without knowing one. After careful consideration I find a reason for the start of existence cannot be; but I, as the evolution of existence create it now.