Part I

What does it mean to do things voluntarily?

There are many ways to approach this question.

One might begin with philosophical or legal theories.

Or with brain scans.

Or with a statistical survey.

We will approach it differently.

We will ask: What can we observe ourselves doing?

Breath

First, observe your breath.

It is just going its way, naturally.

Or did simply observing it already change things? Did you automatically take a little control? It happens for some people.

But mostly you should be observing a process that runs automatically.

Now hold your breath. Only briefly. Only for as long as you are comfortable.

This seems like a clear example of voluntary action.

Without your intervention, your breathing would simply have continued in its usual way.

Hands

Now tap with one hand on the other hand.

Tap. Tap. Don't stop.

Now stop when the tapping hand is up.

You chose to begin.

You chose to stop.

Your hands were just there, probably outside your attention before the tapping began.

But did you choose which hand to tap with voluntarily?

Did you choose where to tap the other hand?

A Die

Take a die. Put it on the table with the one facing up.

Did you do that voluntarily?

It seems so.

And did you voluntarily put the six face down?

If it is a normal die, then you did put the six face down.

But you probably did not intend to.

You simply wanted the one to face up.

The six had to end up underneath.

That outcome was forced by the structure of the die.

It will happen every time you repeat the experiment.

Of course, we could build a die with detachable faces.

Then the six would no longer have to be underneath.

If such a possibility were useful to human beings, dice like that would probably be common.

Many of our tools are built precisely to let us rearrange what would otherwise be fixed.

But ordinary dice are not built that way.

Now look at the three.

Which direction is it facing?

Roughly north?

East?

Somewhere in between?

Did you voluntarily make it face that way?

Probably not if you read this section for the first time. If you read this for the second time, maybe.

The direction of the three was neither intended nor forced.

It simply came along as a consequence of placing the die with the one facing up.

Looking Closely

Holding your breath.

Tapping your hand.

Putting the one face up.

The six underneath.

The three facing somewhere.

Some of these actions were voluntary.

Some were forced.

Some were neither.