People nevertheless go on arguing about free will because even scientists all too often continue to use outdated theological concepts.
但是人们关于自由意志的争论还将持续下去，因为即使科学家也会经常使用过时的神学概念。
Christian, Muslim and Jewish theologians debated for centuries the relations between the soul and the will.
基督教、慕斯陆伟、犹太教的神学家们，数世纪以来都在争论灵魂和意志之间的关系。
They assumed that every human has an internal inner essence – called the soul – which is my true self.
他们假设每个人都有一个内在的本质--称为灵魂，那才是真正的自我。
They further maintained that this self possesses various desires, just as it possesses clothes, vehicles and houses.
他们进一步认为这个自我拥有不同的欲望，就像它拥有衣服、拥有车子和房子。
I allegedly choose my desires in the same way I choose my clothes, and my fate is determined according to these choices.
据说我选择欲望与我选择衣服的方式是一样的，我的命运决定于我的这些选择。
If I choose good desires, I go to heaven. If I choose bad desires, I am sent to hell.
如果我选择了好的欲望，我将会去天堂，如果我选择了坏的欲望，我将会去地狱。
The question then arose, how exactly do I choose my desires?
然后问题出现了，我是如何选择我的欲望的？
Why, for example, did Eve desire to eat the forbidden fruit the snake offered her?
例如，为什么夏娃在蛇提供给她禁果时她想吃？
Was this desire forced upon her?
是这个欲望强迫了她吗？
Did this desire just pop up within her by pure chance?
这个欲望是纯属偶然的出现在她心中吗？
Or did she choose it ‘freely’?
或者是她自由的选择了它？
If she didn’t choose it freely, why punish her for it?
如果她不是自由的选择了它，为什么要因为这个欲望而惩罚她呢？
However, once we accept that there is no soul, and that humans have no inner essence called ‘the self’, it no longer makes sense to ask, ‘How does the self choose its desires?’
但是，一旦我们接受了没有灵魂存在，人没有称为自我的内在本质，将不会追问“自我是如何选择欲望的？”
It’s like asking a bachelor, ‘How does your wife choose her clothes?’
这就像问一个单身汉我，“你的妻子是如何选择衣服的？”
In reality, there is only a stream of consciousness, and desires arise and pass within this stream, but there is no permanent self who owns the desires, hence it is meaningless to ask whether I choose my desires deterministically, randomly or freely.
实际上，只有一个意识流，欲望在这个流里升起和消退，但并没有永久的自我拥有欲望，因此，问究竟我是随机还是自由的选择我的欲望是没有意义的。
It may sound extremely complicated, but it is surprisingly easy to test this idea.
这听起来非常复杂，但验证起来异常简单。
Next time a thought pops up in your mind, stop and ask yourself: ‘Why did I think this particular thought? Did I decide a minute ago to think this thought, and only then did I think it? Or did it just arise in my mind, without my permission or instruction? If I am indeed the master of my thoughts and decisions, can I decide not to think about anything at all for the next sixty seconds?’
下一次当一个念头出现在你的脑海中时，停下来然后问自己：“为什么我会有这个念头？我是在一分钟以前决定想这个念头的吗？或者它是未经我许可出现在我脑海的？如果我真的能掌控我的念头或决定，我是否能决定接下来的60秒不去想任何事？
Just try, and see what happens.
试一试，看看会发生什么。