[BoiledCabbage]

> Not beyond its initial cause. If free will doesn't exist (in the universe), then nothing that happens after our birth can influence it.

This is false. If the sun were to explode right now it would influence the earth. Neither of them have free will.

Even in a completely deterministic universe, where we could predict to the second when the sun would explode from initial conditions, its explosion still influences the earth.

You're mixing influence with choice.

[coldtea]

>>If free will doesn't exist (in the universe), then nothing that happens after our birth can influence it.

>This is false. If the sun were to explode right now it would influence the earth. Neither of them have free will.

I didn't mean "nothing can influence the universe".

I meant nothing can influence someone's will (if free will doesn't exist).

Hence the "after our birth" qualifier.

[dragonwriter]

> I meant nothing can influence someone's will (if free will doesn't exist).

But it's still wrong. Just because will isn't free doesn't mean it isn't influenced by events in the physical universe (in fact, the alternative to free will is will completely determined by events in the physical universe.)