My theory of free-will: (this is certainly not "proof" but I do find it plausible... or else I wouldn't have come up with it)
We have explained the existence of virtually everything we can see, in some form or another. EVERYTHING is made up of "stuff" called matter.
But what of conciousness? There is a question as to what it is... why it should be. And in this fashion... what about free-will?
I contend that conciousness is certainly REAL, and with conciousness MUST be free-will. I further contend that conciousness, just like everything else in the universe, is made up of matter... the so-called "dark" matter.
Now, imagine that the universe is simply a collection of "moments" or "states" -- Each moment is simply a different configuration of every particle in existence... of all kinds of matter. I find it easy to imagine these moments as small little bits of sand in a bowl... or cheerios, if you're a fan...and it's a REALLY BIG bowl.
These different configurations are static....much like the individual frames of a reel of film.
Motion and time in this sense are the illusions. However, "free will" is certainly NOT illusory. Let me explain. Back to those "moments." EVERY possible state of the universe is in existence all at once... There is a corresponding "cheerio" in that bowl for every thing I could EVER do. The funny thing is that it is completely up to me which cheerios I see. And it is just as likely that there is another "me" somewhere that has chosen each and every one of those other cheerios.
You might say that this idea of multiple 'me's choosing every possilbe outcome isn't free-will at all. And that is entirely your choice to define it as such.... but for ME, this being that I am concious of, I choose everything. I have chosen EVERY step along the way which has brought me to HERE, this very moment.
But my ability to choose is certainly limited -- it is limited by what choices I have made already, and by what I perceive to be my "options" at this point of existence. In "reality" there is no constraint, but consciousness if a funny thing, and likes things to "make sense." This is why you experience Deja Vu occasionally -- you feel as if you've seen the moment before because you HAVE -- but you saw it out of context before and so your conscious mind simply discarded it as meaningless. But now, when you experience that moment in a meaningful frame, you mind commits that moment to memory in context. Everything must "make sense." This is why "time" seems to flow in one direction. That is why we do not let ourselves walk on water or teleport from one point to another.
Conciousness develops in stages -- at one point you and I weren't even self-aware. But we are now, and now that we are we will never stop. Good news for you and all you proponents of "life extension" -- you are already immortal. Conciousness will not allow you to die. At the moment in which your "life" would come to an end, your conciousness will do all the extending of your life you need... and at that point your awareness will expand beyond the limits you have self-imposed.
Our lives are nothing BUT free will. My being here and choosing to write this response is the only "proof" of this I need. I am HERE... I have chosen to be here. Everything I have chosen previously has led me to here. To ask questions of determinism certainly make sense, but only because we only experience one life, and so it appears to each from his vantage point that his very existence could not be any different -- from where else would he be looking back?
From this perspective, a person could argue against free-will forever... but that person would fail to understand that he is doing so by choice.
But what does it all mean? Whatever you WANT it to mean.
I choose which moment to view next, just as much as you chose to start this thread. We do so because we are constructing a thread of conciousness around us which gives our lives meaning... My universe is far different than yours... and I'm sure there are some universes in which neither you nor I even exist. That's all fine. All that matters is what meaning I give to my own life. This meaning, ultimately, is entirely of my own making. If you choose to believe that free-will doesn't exist, so be it. But truth doesn't change depending on its believers, or lack thereof. Someday, you will reach the "end" of your life, and at that moment your fully developed consciousness will be aware of all it can do... and that is:
ULTIMATE free-will -- the ability to choose between all states of existence, to create and manipulate the very reality of your own existence. Someday you'll see it... unless you stick your current state of existence onto some silly machine forever... Then it's hard-telling what will happen.
Anyway -- that's all for me! Hope you enjoyed it. :) Carry on.