If we have free will, at what point in life do we become able to exercise that free will?

Surely, we do not start life exercising free will. We don%26#039;t choose to be born in the first place or the conditions of our birth (time/place, who our parents are, genetic inherience, congential defects or lack therof etc.) And we really don%26#039;t have any control over our what happens to us in our early formative years. How we are nutured, raised and provided for, good or bad, really isn%26#039;t up to us. I think we can all agree on that much.





So at what point in life does free will become a factor? Is free will even possible when there are so many influential factors beyond our control?
If we have free will, at what point in life do we become able to exercise that free will?
You excercise %26quot;free will%26quot; the day you are willing to endure the consequences of excercising that %26quot;free will%26quot;.





Don%26#039;t confuse fear of consequences, punishments, or emotional restraints with lack of free will. These don%26#039;t prevent free will, they are just results of it.
If we have free will, at what point in life do we become able to exercise that free will?
If I held a mask in front of my face and called it %26quot;I%26quot; it wouldn%26#039;t be the same as the illusion of self we create because it has a shape and some substance other than what we see through it. %26quot;I%26quot; am just a recording of the things that I have experienced. There is no %26quot;I%26quot; to have choice. %26quot;I%26quot; justify what %26quot;it%26quot; does as MY choice.





Even if %26quot;I%26quot; existed and my brain cells somehow broke from the domino effect of conditioning and my circumstance were not too constrained and my values not to oppressive, even then I am limited by what I percieve as my choices and I didn%26#039;t %26quot;create%26quot; that paradigm, so I am still choosing from someone else%26#039;s lunch menu.





When you add up the levels of conditions, it is hard to imagine what exactly free will is supposed to BE!
Reply:18 years of age
Reply:we don%26#039;t. the illusion begins when you%26#039;re about 1 or 2.





i think that%26#039;s why your earliest flash of memory is when you%26#039;re about that age.
Reply:I%26#039;m not sure of a definite age, but children have free will. They choose to touch a hot stove. They can choose to run, walk, play, and so on.
Reply:I belive that we DO choose the circumstances of our lives. I remember it actually. I had three choices, each with a description of some key facts about the life I would have, opportunities, and other choices I would have to make down the road.





Who says that you don%26#039;t have control of your early years? I have to disagree with that. You%26#039;re alive, right? Just because your parents are taking care of you doesn%26#039;t mean that you aren%26#039;t there too. You make the decision whether to ask them for something, by crying (if you were still an infant) or other communicative means.





Good and bad are all relative. Really the labels %26#039;good%26#039; and %26#039;bad%26#039; are a judgement call. Can you say that someone was given bad care if it ends up changing their life? (especially if it turns out for the %26#039;better%26#039;) ...you know about the stories you hear, some child of a crack whore grows up and becomes a great life-saving person, blah blah blah...





EDIT: Happy Hiram: What makes you think that you didn%26#039;t creat the paradigm that you live and operate in?
Reply:Houston had a good answer. Based on that answer I would say around 1.5 years old. That is when they know for a fact that you can%26#039;t control them and they start learning to shape their destinies (short-term) based on the choices they make.
Reply:You are wrong...I am sorry to say that...





We DO choose to be born...Think about it... We can Choose to pay attention and do what out parents tell us to...right?


We can also choose other-wise.


Life is full of choices... That is what life is made of..





BUT:


i also have something..


Since God is soo almighty and powerful, he knows us SOO much that he knows what we are going to do before we do it... So, if you think about it, we don%26#039;t have a choice... He knows what we%26#039;ll do...He can%26#039;t be wrong... Since he knows what we%26#039;ll do, and he can%26#039;t be wrong... What he thinks we%26#039;ll do, IS what we WILL do... So, we don%26#039;t really have a choice... Atleast..that%26#039;s how I see it..





I guess I believe... in both of the examples I posted... Although that is physically impossible... I do..





The second explanation, I thought of myself..the first one, I learn in Church...





Who knows...Go figure... :P





I hope this helps!
Reply:Our Free Will is not as many think.





Free Will is not the choice to become a mouse if you are a cat. Free Will is not the ability to control the wind that might turn into a tornado and destroy your life.





So what is Free Will? Well, outside of sounding like Free Willy ... Free Will is the internal choice between Heaven and Hell. Free Will is the ability to decide if a tornado that took everything from you makes you cry or makes you considerate of life. It is the ability to choose our perception.





No one can force another to interpret a situation in a negative or positive way. And that alone is Free Will.
Reply:Some people above say very young children, 2 year-olds for example, are using free will when they decide to touch a hot stove. I%26#039;d say this is called curiosity. Animals have curiosity too, and they make mistakes also, just like small children. We generally don%26#039;t say that animals have free will however.





I%26#039;d say free will is the ability to use reason and logic to choose between two or more options, or to make decisions. At what age do children have sufficiently developed reason and logic? That%26#039;s a sliding scale, but around 7 or 8 years old I would say.





And for the answerer above who argues there%26#039;s no free will because God is omniscient, just note this: if God is omniscient, then he is not omnipotent - if he already knows what will happen, then he doesn%26#039;t have the power to change that event (to not have the power to do something = not omnipotent). And most believers of the Judeo-Christian God hold that God is omnipotent. Well, you can%26#039;t have your cake and eat it too, sorry. Furthermore, if we have no free will, then nobody believes, praises, or worships God of his own free will. Basically humans would be the equivalent of little, programmed robots. Some people might enjoy programming their computer to worship them, but I think the ego-boost would be short-lived and superficial at best. Why would God want something like that? He%26#039;s God, after all.





Personally, I would rather have an omnipotent God and free will, than have an omniscient (but not omnipotent) God and be just a little biological robot. The Bible certainly shows us the former, rather than the latter anyway.