Lots of people, especially Grit-minded scientists, believe that there is no free will. Many others believe the basis of life here on earth is free will. And the rest don't even think about it.
There are lots of reasons why people would believe either way, including free will itself. You have the free will to not believe that free will exists.
However, the biggest problem is that scientists focus on one little area, and then declare they know all about free will. Not realizing that this subject is bigger than they realize. Much bigger. Bigger than the universe. Far more complex.
Some studies:
There are many studies where they find that reality is much more complex than they thought, but instead conclude free will doesn't exist.
Scientists were doing brain scans. They would ask a question like heads or tails. To get a random response.
They found that the brain starts working about 5 seconds before the question was asked.
From this, they concluded that free will doesn't exist.
A brain surgeon was testing response times.
He would prick a finger. And the patient would feel it immediately.
He would find the place in the brain where the signal went, and stimulate it there, expecting that it would take a shorter time because it didn't have to run through all the nerves. But, instead found that there was an actual delay when he stimulated the spot in the brain.
So, the prick on the finger, the signal goes back in time to stimulate your brain at the time the finger is pricked.
Time is a lot more complex than we are led to believe, and so is free will. Your free will choice may actually be out in the future.
Who has free will?
Many say that they were destined to meet their wife/husband/partner.
But, if it is destiny, is there free will?
In this instance, you, that part of you that was around before you were born, got together with your partner, and decided to get together this lifetime. So, in one sense, you have complete free will, in another, the you that is stuck in this 3D space, have a destiny of meeting and falling in love. However, i must say that you do have free will. You will probably always meet, but you can choose to sabotage this relationship, or ignore it. It is not easy, because all the pathways were designed for the relationship, but you can choose to abort.
If you suffered a trauma in your life, you will continue to suffer a similar trauma. (until you heal it)
People often say this is destiny, but really it is that the energy patterns are cyclical. And so, you run across the same spot again. Repeating much the same pattern, again. Basically, if you leave a rotting carcass on the train tracks, every time you take that train trip, you are going to run it over again. Each and every time.
It is not really destiny. It is you, throwing this into the future to deal with again.
Fortunately, when you deal with it, it goes away. It really just stops happening. Most people who have done the work, are surprised. They expect it to happen again. Sometimes they are terrified that it is not happening.
Future free will
The biggest problem of free will comprehension is that time doesn't work that way.
It is not the present that creates the future. It is the future that creates the present.
It is the desire to be at a place that moves you in the now to travel to that place. So, we really got to give up the notion that the cause is in the past and the effect is in the future. Once we start realizing how time is constructed, then we can more honestly have a look at how free will manifests.
What is worse is that the past is an illusion. Most people believe that the past is solid, unchanging, static. When, all it is, is a backdrop upon which your current life is painted. You can change your past. There are people who have wadded it up and thrown it out, making for themselves a whole new time line. (they call it jumping time lines) And, from your perspective, their past has always been that way. (the new way that they changed it to)
The future is where it is at. It is the future where we pull things into our reality. It is the future where free will actually exists. Your now choices are often already decided because you have a future you are trying to go to.
And so, if you look at your choices now, then you might think that your actions are being controlled. And thus, conclude that free will is just an illusion. However, it is just that we have a wrong idea about time, and so look at everything backwards.
We have a lot of free will on this planet. However, not everything is free / changeable.
Such as, we have chosen to follow good. As a planet. Back in 2012, the measurements were taken, the magnetic fields have been changed to reflect this. Now, good will thrive on this planet and evil will wither and die. This has serious ramifications, such as, YOU MUST deal with your shit. You can no longer blame it on the bad guys.
And, this limits your free will.
Your free will is also limited to the things you can think of. Your imagination is your limit. It must be said that there are things you can't think of. It is of galactic structure that your thoughts are constrained. However, most people will never even ponder on this. (They think all of this is normal, and the only way it can be) And even less people will ever try to get outside this universe to feel other thoughts. (and when you come back, all you have is a memory that your thoughts are constrained here)
There is lots for us to learn about free will.
And it will be important, because there are many choices that we can make that will effect our future choice abilities / patterns. (like our choosing good. There will also be a choice about accepting that aliens exist)