Is there free will in heaven?

[smoothmoniker]

Originally Posted by glatt

If the laws of physics (which we still don't understand perfectly) control the behavior of the atoms in our bodies, and the atoms in our bodies control the behavior of our cells, and our cells determine what our brains do,

You left out a step right here. "... if our brain is the same thing as our sentient mind ... ". That's the step I take issue with.

then everything we do is determined by the way the natural environment was in motion when we were born.

[Troubleshooter]

Two words come to mind when dealing with consciousness.

Indeterminacy and emergence.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by smoothmoniker

You left out a step right here. "... if our brain is the same thing as our sentient mind ... ". That's the step I take issue with.

Unless you are willing to state that a "magical" factor is necessary to produe a human mind, then it is 100% certain that the natural laws of physics determine what we are.

Now, in order to claim that the human mind is a result of "magical" or "supernatural" qualities (which there is no way of avoiding if you want to claim that we are not a result of the same mundane natural laws that produce everything else) one must assume an attitude of supremely self-satisfied, human-centric egotism.