Blog 17

I should say off the bat that I don't believe humans have any kind of freewill except whatever illusions we give ourselves. But by the same token I have a very specific definition of what freewill supposedly is, which is at odds with the film Minority Report and the article itself. So, going by what the two show as "freewill", then for me it's easy to say that yes, humans have freewill.

Lets look at the film: At first, the entire basis of precrime hinges on the fact that humans DO NOT have freewill. As Anderton states to the FBI man "Just because you stopped it from happening doesnt mean it wasn't going to happen." Thus the entire thing is based on the notion that freewill doesn't matter, those people were going to murder without a doubt. However once Anderton is "redballed" he sets out to prove this wrong. in fact, the entire movie sets out to prove this wrong; the fact that "Minority Reports" exist at all is proof of this.

Now look at what happens once Anderton and Crowe finally meet. Anderton seems consigned to the fact that he will murder Crowe because of what he sees when he reaches the motel room. So I guess there is no freewill after all, right? No. Because in the end, Anderton CHOOSES not to kill Crowe, he instead tries to arrest him. The fact that Crowe does end up being killed is irrelevent, especially when every thing we see is taken into account.

Anderton DID NOT kill Crowe in this movie, this is a fact. Crowe forced Anderton; in my opinion, he is the one that pulled the trigger. The gun in Andertons hand means nothing at this point because they were stuggling and his finger was not on the trigger. Thus it becomes clear that Anderton made the choice to not kill Crowe, and thus he exersized his freewill as defined by the movie.