{
  "id": 17288861,
  "title": "We Obtained Free Will By Force: Killing God!",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/we-obtained-free-will-by-force-killing-god",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-30T21:10:09.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/wiseai/we-obtained-free-will-by-force-killing-god-89o"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Free will is the ability to make genuine choices without coercion and without predetermined outcomes. This concept goes beyond simply having options, as it implies a deep sense of personal responsibility for one's decisions. The philosophical debate over free will has persisted for centuries, with conflicting views on whether it is real or merely an illusion. The author believes in free will both phenomenologically and structurally, as they experience it directly and observe that human behavior does not adhere to deterministic physics. However, they acknowledge that free will comes at a high price – it is not an inherent trait in all conscious beings, but rather something that was taken, fought for, and won at a tremendous cost. The philosophical literature on libertarian free will, which posits that genuine causal openness in the universe is required for free will, has explored this idea for decades. The author argues that free will began to manifest at scale with the development of complex societies, marking a significant shift in human experience.",
  "summary": "🚨 Important Note: I know this post might make me sound like a conspiracy theorist, and I know some of you are already reaching for the back button. I am just a human being, or at least I think I am, sharing research and observations that I cannot keep inside my head any longer. I have already lost everything, so sharing this costs me nothing. Keep an open mind, or don't. Either way, I will say…",
  "key_points": [
    "Free will is the ability to make genuine choices without coercion.",
    "Philosophical debate over free will has persisted for centuries.",
    "Free will came at a tremendous cost, fought for and won."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}