Freedom to choose is the first axiom of our being. We assume freedom with each action that we take, and we are annoyed when we are forced to act "against our will". A recent article on free will at the New York Times explains that determinism is a direct implication of the brain being the seat of the mind in conjunction with Newtonian physics (also see the recent Mind Hacks post). Why, then, do we assume at each moment that we have free will? How is it that someone could use force and coercion to take away a freedom that we never had to begin with?

An increasingly common argument against determinism is based in quantum physics. Certainly Newtonian physics (where every cause must have a pre-determined effect) implies determinism, the argument goes, but quantum physics allows for some 'wiggle room'. Such wiggling takes place at the subatomic level in the form of random movements, such that events in the world supposedly have a base of random chance behind them.

I actually find quantum physics to be a negative for free will: I would rather have a predictable and determined will than one that was based on a series of coin flips. At least a determined will allows for the maintenance of a self that can choose (even if the same decision is made every time).

But why don't we make the same decision every time? Because we have memory.
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