[!quote] “My first act of free will shall be to believe in free will.” —William James

I can’t prove whether we have free will or not. But I know my life is better when I act as if I do. When I choose to believe that I have free will, and thus hold myself responsible for my choices and do not give myself the easy excuse of I couldn’t help it. Maybe I couldn’t. Or maybe my beliefs drive my behaviors. Maybe I accept less from myself when I think I can get away with it. Maybe I don’t hold myself accountable to change and learn and grow when I can use determinism to excuse away my ability to do so.

And sure, maybe all this is an exercise in futility. If everything is predetermined or if, at best, the most I can do is wiggle around in some kind of narrow rut defined by my genetics and circumstances, I still think my life is better when I adopt this belief and let it influence how I live. If nothing else, perhaps it helps me stretch to the very limits of this rut I’m in.