The notion that free will does not exist.

"Ah hah! See, if determinism existed, not only could we theoretically determine events about to happen in a split-second, we could determine all events because even the causes of far-future events would be the effect of things that exist right now. Yet you concede that "too much could change" between now and later events - you allow for an undetermined change, either random or willed!" I see your point; however, I go back to the chaos metaphor. You could do it but there's too many possible variables that it wouldn't be worth it. I should have phrased my words better, not that there's "too much [that] could change" but that there are too many outside influences that could arise. You may want to play outside right now, but if a blizzard comes along in a week would you still want to? These outside influences are determined by other things and will itself is determined by genetics, outside influences, and experience, see however you boil it down it's still determinism. "No. Even in that multiple-reality scenario, I'd still say: "IF I hadn't shot Bob (for choosing the wrong color button and defeating my prediction) THEN he would be alive. He might have been dead in an alternate reality, but he would be alive in this one, so my choice mattered."" What? "So... Tourette's sufferers are the only true enlightened people? It's a fun thought, but it wouldn't explain how they think their desire to resist the impulses is voluntary." In a way yes, but they're still probably only enlightened to that aspect of their life. Their ego probably still makes them think that they're mind is free from the laws of the material universe. "Interesting. Nonetheless, people are usually capable of feeling guilt, or at least responsibility/credit for their actions, and even Tourette's sufferers don't think they're being controlled by an outside force if they, say, vandalize a building. This once again proves that when people truly suffer from involuntary urges, they experience something unique." Depends, what do they perceive as the cause for their action? If it's Tourette's then they can't blame themselves, but if they perceive their own will then they might feel guilt. However, we must ask what in their past experience caused them to want to burn down a building. Each will can be traced back to past experience or genetics. Why are there pedophiles? Most likely they themselves were molested as children, cause and effect. Is not temptation (will) an involuntary urge? We can fight against it but ultimately it usually wins, correct? The same can be said about Tourette's, so why is it so hard to imagine that they are not similar in that they are both causes to our effects, it's not unique in the slightest. "I have given a counterexample: spontaneous nuclear decay. No two things are more similar than two neighboring atoms in the middle of a sample, yet one may decay while the other may not. No one can even suggest what determines which does so." Again I don't think we know nearly enough about quantum physics to be able to make that assertion yet. There are so many unanswered questions in that field that when they become answered I would really be surprised if "randomness" is still the best they can come up with. To do so would be to say that the universe is innately illogical which would make no sense in juxtaposition with the order that the universe creates. "That just says decisions are rational rather than random. Attacking thought itself weakens your argument, and some choices are so SELF-determined that you cannot attribute them to outside causes alone. Like invention. Experiences can put you in a certain mood, but you can't give them credit for the melody you write when in that mood. And unless you believe in idea bubbles floating around, you can't give determinism credit when someone designs a radio or a better engine. His environment allowed him to do it and maybe made it easier, but it didn't put every word of his idea in his head." Inventions, most of the time, are inspired by the environment around us. Melodies and other things are made in nature by birds, could the mind not synthesize sounds and overtime synthesize those sounds to make the melodies you hear in music. A better engine is simply that, combining multiple ideas and concepts and creating something better than what you had before, that would be the very definition of determinism. A radio came from studying nature's different sound waves and how they can be transmitted, again not an original idea. All things we make or have made are building on things around us. They're building blocks just like math. Many different things in a person's environment and his own past knowledge/experiences can directly determine an invention.