This is my best case for free will. If you know someone who is married to the idea of determinism, share this with them.

There are two ways to look at reality. One is from a macro lens, almost like a god’s perspective. The other is from a micro lens, the human perspective.

From the macro view, the universe can very well be deterministic. Like a pool table after the first strike, every movement may already be set in motion. Every action, every outcome, already encoded in the initial conditions.

But that is not how we experience life.

From the human perspective, we do not have access to the full state of the universe. We do not know all variables. We cannot predict outcomes with certainty. We operate with incomplete information. And because of that, we must act as if our choices matter.

Even if determinism is true at some ultimate level, which tbh I believe it is, it becomes irrelevant to how we live. You cannot function by saying everything is predetermined, because even that belief, and your decision to adopt it, would also be predetermined. That creates an absurd loop. You are not outside the deterministic system making a neutral judgment. You are part of it.

So the question of whether to believe in determinism or free will is itself meaningless from a deterministic standpoint. Whatever you choose was already decided.

This is why, from a practical and human standpoint, believing in free will is the only coherent way to live.

It gives you agency. It gives you responsibility. It allows you to take ownership of your actions without hiding behind cosmic inevitability.

Where Determinism Breaks: Crime and Punishment

If you genuinely believe in determinism, then how do you deal with crimes? If someone kills a member of your family, for example, then in your model they could not have done otherwise. So then on what basis do you assign blame? Or do you assign blame at all? How can you?

You see, determinism followed to its logical end, does not provide clean answers to conundrums like these.

Now, if you have a way to resolve this within determinism, fine. But most people who claim to believe in determinism have not actually thought this through.

In practice, they still believe in accountability. They still believe in justice. They still believe that some actions deserve consequences.

If you believe in law and order, you have already adopted the model I am proposing. You believe actions can be judged. You believe responsibility can be assigned. Once you accept that, the distinction becomes clear.

Here’s the out: if everything is predetermined, then both the crime and the punishment are predetermined. So there is no point in moral paralysis. You do not need to feel guilty for choosing to punish someone. That choice was also part of the system.

What matters is meaning.

And meaning emerges only when you believe your actions matter. When you believe you could have done otherwise. When you believe your effort shapes outcomes.

So even if the universe is deterministic from a higher lens, you should still choose to believe in free will. Not because it is proven, but because it is the only belief that allows you to live fully, act decisively, and create a meaningful life.

If You Still Hold On to Determinism

Now, if you are not fully convinced, and you still feel pulled toward determinism, there is a more useful version of it to hold on to.

Instead of pure determinism, think in terms of constrained determinism.

In this view, the universe operates within predetermined boundaries. The laws of physics define what is possible and what is not, and those constraints themselves are fixed. You cannot violate them. You cannot simply choose to fly by flapping your hands, for example. But within those constraints, outcomes are not pre-scripted.

The future is not a fixed movie. It is a possibility space.

Ten years from now, humans will still be biological. Gravity will still exist. The constraints remain. But what you build and who you become within those constraints is still driven by your actions.

This version preserves predetermined structure without killing agency.

So even if you are not ready to let go of determinism entirely, at least upgrade it. Move from a rigid, paralyzing determinism to a constrained one that still leaves room for action.

Because in the end, the goal is not to win a philosophical argument.

The goal is to live in a way that maximizes meaning, responsibility, and growth.

And for that, free will is not optional.