"I chose my own lunch today."
Haru said.
Ren asked. "Really?"
"What? Of course."
"What factors influenced that choice?"
Haru thought. "Preference, hunger, budget..."
"Where did those come from?" Ren continued.
"Preference is... upbringing and experience?"
"Yes. All determined by the past."
Haru resisted. "But ultimately, I decided."
Simon intervened. "What is that 'I' made of?"
"What?"
"Brain, memory, genes... all physical processes."
Haru was confused. "So free will is an illusion?"
Ren nodded. "Deterministically, yes."
"Determinism?"
"All events are determined by preceding causes."
Simon supplemented. "Laplace's demon. With complete information about the universe, the future could be perfectly predicted."
Haru pondered. "But isn't that scary?"
"Why?" Ren asked.
"It's meaningless. If choice is illusion."
"Meaning and causality are separate," Ren said. "Even if determined, experience doesn't change."
Simon showed another perspective. "But quantum mechanics is different."
"Quantum mechanics?"
"Particle behavior is probabilistic. Not deterministic."
Haru had hope. "So random means free?"
"Not necessarily," Ren denied. "Random isn't choice."
"What do you mean?"
"Free will is 'intentional choice.' Random is 'unintentional.'"
Simon nodded. "So quantum indeterminacy also doesn't guarantee free will."
Haru was disappointed. "So either way, there's no free will?"
"Wait," Ren said. "Depends on definition."
"Definition?"
"Absolute free will or relative free will."
Simon explained. "Absolute free will is choice completely independent of causality."
"That's impossible?"
"So it seems," Ren said. "But relative free will is possible."
"Relative free will?"
"Choice without external coercion. Choice following your own will."
Haru was confused. "But that 'own will' is also determined, right?"
"Yes," Ren admitted. "But subjectively it's free."
Simon supplemented. "Compatibilism. Determinism and free will can coexist."
"How?"
"Redefine 'freedom.' Not independent of causality, but independent of coercion."
Haru thought. "So choice at gunpoint versus voluntary choice are different?"
"Exactly," Ren nodded. "Both causally determined. But the latter is free."
"Why?"
"Because it follows internal motivation."
Simon added. "Free will isn't 'having no cause' but 'having the right cause.'"
Haru was almost convinced. "What's the right cause?"
"Your own values, beliefs, desires."
"But don't those also come from outside?"
"Yes," Ren admitted. "But once internalized, they become 'you.'"
Haru looked out the window. People walking. Each with their choices.
"Everyone lives feeling free."
"That feeling is important," Simon said. "Even if metaphysically it's illusion."
"Why important?"
"Responsibility, self-efficacy, human dignity," Ren enumerated. "All depend on the feeling of free will."
Haru took a deep breath. "So feeling is more important than truth?"
"Practically," Simon said. "But philosophically, we keep asking."
Ren concluded. "The reality of free will is unresolved. But that's okay."
"Why?"
"We can live without complete answers."
Haru laughed. "Philosophy doesn't give answers."
"Questions are more important than answers," Simon said.
The three continued thinking about their freedom, freely, or perhaps necessarily.