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All right...
It's my belief that we don't actually exist in the classic sense. That is to say that there is no spirit, no essence. We are simply the sum of our parts, no different from a machine.
My main premise is that our thoughts come from within our brains. Inside our brains, there are certain chemical reactions taking place, and these reactions are subject to physical law. Being subject to physical law, the reactions are also subject to predictability. If we knew everything that went in to the input, then we could predict the outcome.
Our actions seem unpredictable, they seem random, but they really aren't. They're actually chaotic. Much like the roll of the dice. A person can't predict how a roll will turn out, but with enouch information, he/she could. If he/she know the force applied to the dice, the intial position of the dice, the condition of the table, the forces of the air, etc., it would be entirely possible to predict how the dice will land.
So it is with the human mind. It works via entirely physical processes which, if we had enough information, would be totally predictable. However, because the amount of information we would need is seemingly infinite, we are given the impression that we actually have a choice in our actions, that we have free will.
To sum it up: Free will is an illusion, existence is an illusion. We are the sum of our parts.
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"If I cannot smoke cigars in heaven, I shall not go!"
- Mark Twain
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