I don't think Free Will is the concept you described in your OP.

Free Will is the ability to make a decision to do or not do something.

But you are talking about critical thinking.

Free Will might or might not be a result of critical thinking, depending on the person and circumstance.

But they are two different things.

Everybody has Free Will.

Everybody also has the human ability to engage in critical thinking, unless they have a damaged brain for some reason.

But many of the non-brain damaged people who have the ability to engage in critical thinking, choose (Free Will) to NOT engage in critical thinking, for some reason, and instead they defer to what other people tell them to think and do.

Why THAT occurs is what we should be exploring.

Propaganda is powerful. Over the past 2 years, we have witnessed one of the most powerful propaganda efforts in human history. We can even go back 6 years and add in the anti-Trump propaganda along with the Covid propaganda.

Many people fell for the propaganda, but not all. Why is THAT?

The so-called "Big Lie" seems to work on a lot of people. Even the big lie of the "Big Lie" is ongoing propaganda. Joseph Goebbels, in writing about the "Big Lie" said that it can only last as long as the people can continue to be deceived by their own government. The fact that he was talking about the British government, and especially Winston Churchill, is hidden by today's propaganda claiming that he was bragging about what the Germans could do to their own people. No, he was talking about how the British fooled their own people and the world through their lies about the Germans.

So ... why do so many people fall for it and NOT question it, even when someone draws their attention to it?

The people still wearing face masks are doing it of their own Free Will, even though they have been deceived. But WHY are they STILL deceived after all this time? Lack of WILL to engage in critical thinking. You could say that is their inability to follow "Free Will," but WHY do they chose THIS (critical thinking) as the line drawn in the sand that they will not cross?

They demonstrate Free Will in most aspects of their life -- but NOT rational thought when it comes to questioning the people they perceive to be "authority."

It is a SLAVE mentality. WHY do they have it?

I don't think Free Will is the concept you described in your OP.

Free Will is the ability to make a decision to do or not do something.

But you are talking about critical thinking.

Free Will might or might not be a result of critical thinking, depending on the person and circumstance.

But they are two different things.

Everybody has Free Will.

Everybody also has the human ability to engage in critical thinking, unless they have a damaged brain for some reason.

But many of the non-brain damaged people who have the ability to engage in critical thinking, choose (Free Will) to NOT engage in critical thinking, for some reason, and instead they defer to what other people tell them to think and do.

What that occurs is what we should be exploring.

Propaganda is powerful. Over the past 2 years, we have witnessed one of the most powerful propaganda efforts in human history. We can even go back 6 years and add in the anti-Trump propaganda along with the Covid propaganda.

Many people fell for the propaganda, but not all. Why is THAT?

The so-called "Big Lie" seems to work on a lot of people. Even the big lie of the "Big Lie" is ongoing propaganda. Joseph Goebbels, in writing about the "Big Lie" said that it can only last as long as the people can continue to be deceived by their own government. The fact that he was talking about the British government, and especially Winston Churchill, is hidden by today's propaganda claiming that he was bragging about what the Germans could do to their own people. No, he was talking about how the British fooled their own people and the world through their lies about the Germans.

So ... why do so many people fall for it and NOT question it, even when someone draws their attention to it?

The people still wearing face masks are doing it of their own Free Will, even though they have been deceived. But WHY are they STILL deceived after all this time? Lack of WILL to engage in critical thinking. You could say that is their inability to follow "Free Will," but WHY do they chose THIS (critical thinking) as the line drawn in the sand that they will not cross?

They demonstrate Free Will in most aspects of their life -- but NOT rational thought when it comes to questioning the people they perceive to be "authority."

It is a SLAVE mentality. WHY do they have it?