We make choices every day, from simple to important decisions in our lives. The way we come to those decisions brings the controversy of The Great Debate: Free Will vs. Determinism.
Free Will is the belief that as humans, we feel as though we are making our own conscience decisions. To make something happen, we do not sit back and wait for an action to happen.
Determinism is like an indubitable prediction. For example, a skilled pool player knowing exactly a ball will go when struck.
The dispute between free will and determinism continues in the book series Harry Potter.
The prophecy states "Neither can live while the other survives."
'You see the prophecy does not mean you have to do anything! But the prophesy caused Lord Voldemort to mark you as his equal... in other words, you are free to choose your way, quite free to turn your back on the prophesy! But Voldemort continues to set store by the prophesy. He will continue to hurt you ... which makes it certain really, that -'
'That one of us is going to end up killing the other,' said Harry.
In this section of the book, Dumbledore is trying to prove to Harry free will should prevail over his predetermined fate. Voldemort fails to recognize the power of choice and puts all his belief in determinism. It then becomes a figurative and literal battle when Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort fight between the power of free will and determinism.
My opinion on the Great Debate is a deep problem. It is something neither scientist nor folk psychologist has been able to come to grips with. Human behavior follows scientific laws at the same time allowing us to choose. Human beings are too complicated to be deemed as "stimulus-response machines" like Skinner tried to prove. Even though we are a part of a genetic heritage and can be programmed like calculators, we have the capability to alter old programs and add new ones by our self. Still we would not be able to function properly without determinism. It is the predetermined that the sun will rise once it sets. Without this known future event, the world would be at a stalemate. We would be too afraid to live. The most reasonable stand for this complex topic is to live in a world with both. Living a life with zero control would not be a life worth living, but having nothing predetermined would be frightening to live through.
The dispute between free will and determinism is always puzzling because we can never find out which is prevalent in our lives. For example, would both Harry and Voldemort be able to live if neither paid attention to the prophecy? It's impossible to tell what could have happened in an alternative situation. Skinner claimed that humans act in a pre-programmed manner like robots, although most people would claim that we are free to make decisions, whether or not we think these decisions are rational.