...to refute. Before I even heard of Sam Harris—sharp guy, reminds me of myself—I questioned “free will” from a hypothetical standpoint. Think about this: If you, reader, were given the same genetic coding, environment, parents, siblings, upbringing, etc., as myself, writer, would you have the ability—the “free will”—to make a different decision on anything, at any point in my life, that I have made? Of course not because I have made those decisions and you are hypothetically me right now! If there were free will you would be able to have those same pre-requisites of being me (dna, parents, etc.) and still be able to make different choices.
Free will also assumes you have enough information to make any choice that you want. You and I know for a fact that a kid in poverty doesn’t have the free will to make the same decisions as a wealthy grown man.
Have I made an error in reasoning? Please enlighten me. Truth means more to me than being right.