In The Driver's Seat

On free will, the universe, and how much control we have over our own lives.

Few things reignite our excitement for the future like mapping out our goals for the new year, creating a vision board, or starting a manifestation practice. There's just something about the sense of possibility that puts some extra bounce in the step. But, amidst all this optimism and excitement, there there's a niggle at the back of our brains that's hard to ignore. It's a quiet voice that says "Yeah, but what if none of this actually even happens — bold of you to believe you actually have any control over it."

It's not hard to see why we're afflicted by this internal tug-o-war between optimism and doubt. We've all experienced firsthand how even the best-laid plans can be derailed by external forces. You sign up for a marathon and then break your leg walking down the stairs a week before. Or, you send out that book manuscript you've been working on for a year to dozens of publishers, only to get one rejection email after the next.

How much control do we actually have over our own lives? It's one of those questions that has plagued humans for millennia — and it could be argued that it's one of the existential crises we're attempting to avoid when we drink too much, shop too much, and engage in other escapist behaviours. In early civilisation, the answer was more straightforward — most people believed in an almighty God who had a pre-decided mission for them. All they had to do was follow a clear-cut code of conduct to get there.

As theology has taken a backseat and more people have embraced atheism and agnosticism, our role in it all has become even more muddled. With the explosion of new-age spirituality practices like manifestation and the law of attraction in recent years, you'll often hear people talk more about the 'universe' — like it's a genie on speed-dial ready to grant their wishes.

But sometimes, God, the universe and other mysterious forces fail to deliver. It can feel like despite our best efforts to change our fate, our lives are already mapped out before us — and we're just like characters in a video game, passing checkpoints until we reach our predetermined destination.

Amidst all the uncertainty and seemingly nonsensical plotlines playing out in the world right now, it's unsurprising that the concept of 'simulation theory' has had a resurgence on social media lately. You only have to open your TikTok feed to see creators arguing that we live in a simulation, like something out of the Truman Show — as evidenced by the fact they've never seen their neighbours bring in their groceries.

It surfaces questions about free will: a philosophy attributed to both Aristotle (4th century BCE) and Epictetus (1st century CE):

"It was the fact that nothing hindered us from doing or choosing something that made us have control over them".

To believe in free will is to believe that we, as individual humans, are making our own decisions and taking our own actions independently — and that there's not some omnipotent deity, alien, or video game player pulling the strings behind the scenes.

The unfortunate reality, unless science advances drastically in our lifetimes, we'll likely never truly know whether free will exists, or if we live in a simulation. But, there are a few things that we know for sure:

The universe, and even just our planet and daily lives, are infinitely complex. Nothing happens in isolation but rather, there are billions of variables playing out at any time that affect the paths of our lives. Think about the movie The Butterfly Effect: where even something as small as the flap of a butterfly's wings can change the trajectory of a timeline.

Then, there's the concept of sonder: The realisation that each passerby is living a life as complex and vivid as our own. Consider how their decisions and actions intersect with your own and it's easier to understand why it feels like some things are out of our control.

That said, we do have more agency over our lives than you'd think — albeit, in ways you may not expect. Here are some practical ways you can meet the universe halfway and take control of your own destiny.