So with respect to free will, we can instead ask the question, “Why would humans feel like they have free will?” If we can answer this well enough, then hopefully we can dissolve the original question.
Not sure about the EY’s position, but I find that you are making a significant assumption: that people always feel like they have free will. This is patently false. I would start by trying to imagine how it feels to have no free will. Possible options:
You feel compelled to do things because the voices in your head tell you to (i.e. you don’t have your own opinion on the matter)
You intend to do one thing but find yourself doing something else and feel powerless to change it (e.g. surfing LW instead of studying)
You must do what you are told, or else something awful happens (i.e. you have an opinion, but cannot act on it) (suggested by TheOtherDave)
You feel that you behave as you please, only to find out that you repeatedly do exactly the same thing in the same circumstances without realizing it (suggested by gwern)
What else can trigger a feeling of having no free will? Which ones are the “true” lack of free will, if any?
“What makes people feel like they have limited or absent free will” is a productive way of rephrasing “why do people feel like they have free will,” but I don’t think the latter entails a false assumption.
Not sure about the EY’s position, but I find that you are making a significant assumption: that people always feel like they have free will. This is patently false. I would start by trying to imagine how it feels to have no free will. Possible options:
You feel compelled to do things because the voices in your head tell you to (i.e. you don’t have your own opinion on the matter)
You intend to do one thing but find yourself doing something else and feel powerless to change it (e.g. surfing LW instead of studying)
You must do what you are told, or else something awful happens (i.e. you have an opinion, but cannot act on it) (suggested by TheOtherDave)
You feel that you behave as you please, only to find out that you repeatedly do exactly the same thing in the same circumstances without realizing it (suggested by gwern)
What else can trigger a feeling of having no free will? Which ones are the “true” lack of free will, if any?
It sounds to me more like the assumption is that people often feel like they have free will, and usually for the same reason.
Yes, that is a better way to phrase it.
“What makes people feel like they have limited or absent free will” is a productive way of rephrasing “why do people feel like they have free will,” but I don’t think the latter entails a false assumption.