Free will... It is a bitch

Fair warning: plenty of spoilers to plenty of movies below.

The concepts of free will and determinism have been plaguing me recently. And as often happens, I've been seeing these current mental obsessions in everything I encounter. After viewing Matrix Reloaded and Bruce Almighty, rewatching Devil's Advocate, and rereading my essay on Minority Report, I'm ready to write about this topic.

The crux of the question of free will is how can we have free will if an omniscient being knows what we're going to do? We ask this question with such ferocity because of an instinctual NEED to believe we have free will. It's one of those questions we ask without any intention of concluding "well, I guess we don't have free will." Of course we see plenty of examples of not having free will but, in the end, we always have it.

Pacino knew Keanu would end up at his penthouse and the Architect was waiting for Neo, but in the end it was still the Keanus' decisions to blow his head off and go save Trinity (that was not an easy but to write because of the multiplicity of Keanu in free will movies; let us not even bring up Bill and Ted's). The dramatic concept of possibly not having free will but then, ultimately, exerting it is more present in Minority Report than any other film. Which is a reason I liked it - because the ultimate existence of free will is more theoretical and philosophical than any other movie (the others all end by saying "ha ha, got ya! yep, you really do have choice!").

In the new Matrix film we're presented with an interesting addition to this never-ending discussion. The Oracle tells Neo that the point is not to ponder what we're going to do but rather why we're going to do it. Why, not what. Whether what we're going to do is based on the free will of previous choices which lead to unavoidable and predictable current choices or whether everything is based on arithmetic (i.e. the Architect) or automatic knowledge of everything (i.e. God) understanding motivation, intention and emotion are much more important that figuring out what to do next.

In Minority Report Tom Cruise doesn't escape fate, or precognition. He could have taken a vacation instead of tracking down the kidnapper but he goes through with what he knows will be a horrible tragedy. He could have chosen to ignore the premonition but instead CHOSE to follow it. What he did isn't interesting, we knew he wouldn't lock himself in a room. Why he did what he did is much more important - to find his son even if it means committing murder.

In Devil's Advocate Al Pacino says that free will is a bitch and like butterfly wings, once touched, never gets off the ground. That's why he says he couldn't manipulate the wife's free will. In Bruce Almighty the big rule Jim Carrey has to adhere to upon becoming God is to not interfere with free will. But as we see in the film this isn't a caveat against fiddling with free will, it is a notice that he CAN'T affect free will.

That's a major point. He tries to affect free will but even with all of God's powers he can't affect it. Think about that. God and the devil don't just give us free will or allow us to have free will, they stay out of toying with free will altogether. They can't affect it. And that's precisely why understanding the WHY of actions is more important and fundamental to overall understanding. It's the one thing that can't be calculated. Even the master Architect had to finally succumb to Neo's underlying power of choice.

As humans we don't know what will happen and we can only try to imagine why we do things. Things happen and from our perspective we usually have no clue as to why they do. Things have to happen. Cause and effect. Only by trying to understand why can we ever hope to effect cause and affect.

Running away from destiny is not an option. But abandoning reflection and thoughtfulness is just as silly. I guess more than anything my goal is to say that life is worth living. Any attempt to take responsibility out of the equation is ultimately harmful. Live life. Enjoy every moment. Strive for understanding but accept the existence of unknowables.