free will does not exist

First of all, thank you for not acting in the same manner as most of the people I that I encounter on a regular basis. I have enjoyed having a logical debate with an individual who truly knows how to use rational thought. (Finally) Speaking of rationality, I hope I am not committing a straw man fallacy in stating that you only seem to believe in free will when reason is involved. If I am, please forgive me. 1) To address your concern about the absence of free will in regard to rationality I ask you this...can you act upon anything that does not occur to you? The answer is no. As in the case of Hayes and Komisarjevksy, they did not untie the two girls simply because the thought never occurred to them even though it was the logical thing to do. The rational conclusion will never be enacted upon unless the aforementioned conclusion manifests into your mind before the scenario has come and gone. The logical conclusion will then manifest into physical action only if the unconscious makes the decision, depending upon background information of course. 2) Critical Thinking To be more specific, in the case of critical thinking your consciousness is only a medium through which your unconscious "decisions" are made a reality. When you were looking for evidence concerning a new idea and decided to reject past experience in favor of evolution (I applaud) you unwittingly acted out a decision that was already a foregone conclusion. You cannot manipulate your genetics, nor can you consciously be aware of all the factors that are taken into account during a decision. If you could, then free will could exist; however, critical thinking is a strong example of how your mind can manipulate you into believing that "critical thinking" is actually being accomplished. The reason you came to the conclusion you did was not the result of a conscious decision, yet it was the result of factors that were unknown to you working in the background. A rebellious spirit, a maverick personality, or maybe sheer dissatisfaction with the religious proposals you have been exposed to all were aspects that were unbeknownst to you when your brain unconsciously decided to alert your consciousness that a change was imminent. 2) Physical and Experience replacement Relates to everything that I have ever already mentioned, your genetics, external stimuli, and past experience all determine the mental event that precipitates the physical action. 3) Conclusion Free will is purely an illusion contrived by man due to the fact we feel as if we are the conscious authors of our thoughts and actions. The unconscious is the true origin while the conscious is merely a stage. Our biological predispositions (genetics), our life experience, and external stimuli are the predominant factors in the formation of every inclination and desire. Every factor must have the possibility of consideration in order for free will to coincide with the laws of physics; and this is clearly not the case in actuality due to the fact that we cannot contrive anything that does not occur to use...no matter how logical the conclusion may be. Even in regards to rationality, every consideration and delineation that occurs is the result of the conscious awareness of the thoughts and desires that originate, and are ultimately determined, by the neurophysiological processes of our unconscious. Unfortunately we are mere spectators to the interplay of our minds, stripped of all control, how are we to deal with ourselves? Ah, a debate for another day.