free will theme

Discussed is whether and to what extent we are free to choose our own actions. Perhaps we are merely pre-programmed computers?

10 total · 3 major · 7 minor

StoryLevelMotivation
futurama7x09 major Did Bender have free will or was he merely an automaton?
movie: Minority Report (2002) major One revelation of the film is that people can change their future once they become aware of it.
movie: SlaughterhouseFive (1972) major The Tralfamadorians said that of all the inhabited planets they visited, they only encountered the notion of free will on Earth. The also explained about how a Tralfamadorian would bring about the end of the universe by pressing the wrong button when testing an experimental fuel. The idea was that it was absurd to try to stop him from pressing the button because it was already determined.
blackmirror6x01 minor Joan mused that it wasn't her decision to make before going to town on the quantum computer with an axe.
movie: Red Dwarf: The Promised Land (2020) minor The hologram Rimmer came to doubt he had free will, saying "The computer thinks therefore I think I am".
movie: RoboCop (2014) minor A scientist explained that RoboCop was operating under the illusion that it had free will.
movie: The Matrix Reloaded (2003) minor The Merovingian assert that choice was an illusion, but Morpheus disagreed.
movie: The Matrix Resurrections (2021) minor A man voiced this question: "Are we just ll algorithms doing what we are suppose to do or can we escape our programming?"
movie: The Matrix Revolutions (2003) minor A point was made about free will when Neo answered with "Because I choose to." to Agent Smith's question about why he keeps on fighting against all odds.
rd1988e8x04 minor Lister said he wanted to believe that he was in charge of his own life and destiny in the context of the future already being determined.