- Free will is the name of a philosophical discipline concerned with whether and how humans ever act of their own accord, or whether they are destined by fate, nurturing or biology to behave in a certain way.
- Free will is also an individual's ability to choose one act over another, regardless of cultural, societal or other outwardly imposed restrictions. The exercise of free will is a branch of ethics.
- One famous example of the exercise of free will occurs in the Bible. It is Adam's and Eve's choice to eat the apple in the Garden of Eden and become self aware.
- The development of quantum theory has implications in free will. The random, "probability-based" nature of quantum theory results creates problems with previous theories of cause and effect.
- "Nature vs. nurture" is one of the most well-known arguments regarding free will and seeks to determine whether upbringing can override so-called "bad genes." The free will argument consequently also has implications in psychology and psychiatry.
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