There is (or isn't, depending on which philosopher you listen to) biological – material – free will. But I would posit the existence of a metaphysical free will, and this expression of free will I would group alongside prayer, as in willing an outcome.
In practical terms, our lives are bounded by physical constraints. We live where we live, we do what we do. It's not practical to drop everything on a whim and say, "It is my free will to fly to the Solomon Islands, now." This requires planning, research, a holiday window in one's work schedule, a timetable. Our free will has self-imposed limits. In real life, choices are very limited, restricted by the humdrum realities of day-to-day life
Rather than setting off to a more exotic destination, the question facing me each day is binary – leaving my działka, do I turn east for Machcin II? Or west to Chynów? There's no other choice. Once that decision has been taken, another one surfaces. If I take the eastern option, do I turn north for Grobice or south towards Dąbrowa Duża? If I take the western option, do I turn north for Sułkowice or south for Krężel? At every subsequent crossroads along the way, the number of new possibilities doubles or triples. Sometimes, there's a plan. Sometimes, spontaneity guides me. Free will is there, but limited.
But a more important thought that I consider as I set off is willing there to be no misfortunes upon my way. That there be no sprained ankles, no lost wallet, no run-ins with nasty people or dogs; the Edge of Chaos is ever-present; not much to ask for, you may say, given that such incidents are extremely rare in any case. I have a fear of losing wallet or keys or things in general that manifests itself regularly in my dreams, where I can't find my rucksack or my bicycle or my phone and this causes me to wake, or at least to snap into a lucid dream state in which I become aware of the fact that I'm dreaming and that the object in question isn't really lost in real life, and I return to dreaming a more pleasant dream.
The conscious thought that precludes or forestalls misfortune needs be to bolstered by gratitude when, upon return, as I consider that no misfortune indeed came to pass. One cannot become complacent, thinking that because today had been good and yesterday had been good, tomorrow will also be good. Being plugged into the metaphysical is a long-term position.
Steering serendipity
Can your will affect luck? Example: will I catch my train? I've dithered too long (at home, in the office). A dash ensues. The emphasis on willing myself to catch my train. If it turns out that I've just missed a westbound Metro to Młynów, it means I'll miss my connection, my train home from there to Chynów... Miss it, and it's an hour's wait. Somehow I catch them, that string of successes continues...
My best example here happened two summers ago; as I was locking the gate on the działka, I realised I'd left my phone on the kitchen table. I run back, open the house, get the phone, dash out, lock the gate – there's six minutes left, it's a nine-minute run... I will catch that train! I did. It arrived three minutes late that day. Factors that affect a train's punctuality are many and varied, blind chance, you may say, its lateness that day a pure coincidence. But until I was actually on board, there was a possible and an actual. I feel I willed that particular connection. An unfalsifiable proposition.
So – setting off from my house, that little prayer, considered consciously, never prattled complacently, has become a habit. For a day free of misfortune. Applied superstition? Again, an unfalsifiable proposition.
Prayer can be seen as an expression of will. But prayer as free will? If indeed prayer must align with the Cosmic Purpose, with the ethical vector – if the Cosmic Purpose tends towards the Good, then is our metaphysical free will bound by ethical constraints? If I look at the evil people who's will brings chaos, death and suffering, then no – but to what extent is a Putin or a Hitler merely the outcome of purely material forces, genetics, upbringing, environment and circumstance?
More tomorrow.
Lent 2023, Day 19
Intuition and Superstition
Lent 2022: Day 19
Between Randomness and Cause
Lent 2021: Day 19
Pleasure and Self-Denial
Lent 2020: Day 19
Balancing the Spiritual with the Material
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