Epiphenomenalism is true. And so is Free Will.

Epiphenomenalism is the position that identity is just consciousness in the abstract, and it doesnt causally interact with anything.

Like how a computer screen isnt what runs a computer program, it just looks that way.

This abstract "consciousness" is what makes you different from an identical clone. Even if that clone was truly identical, its not "you".

At first glance it sounds like it makes for a good anti free will position. So why am i saying otherwise?

Because: Our minds and our bodies can be self aware of our inner consciousness and subservient to it. Somehow.

Consider the following thought experiment. Actually you heard it before, its the teleporter thought experiment. If you were raised to believe a teleporter simply relocates you, but then discovered sometimes it doesnt destroy the original copy when it creates a new one and even uses different particles, youd rightfully wonder if thats truly you, and not just an identical clone. If epiphenonalism is right, its definitely a clone, and you definitely died.

Now... Knowing you die and are replaced by a identical clone, would you refuse to use the teleporter? Yes, at least most people would. Why? Because your mind and your body cares about your consciousness, even though it doesnt truly know its there.

This is weird to think about. Why doesnt my mind and my body say "i dont care about my consciousness, if you kill me and replace me with a perfect copy, my pattern (ideals, will, and genetics) lives on and thats all i should care about"? My mind doesnt say that. My mind cares about my consciousness, like its a beloved imaginary friend, or a family pet. More than that, it cares about it equally as much as itself.

This unification of consciousness (your identity) and mind (your pattern) is what gives rise to the emergence of Free Will. My mind does everything in its power to serve my consciousness, even though theres no consequence for not doing so, and theres not even any tangible demands.

If my mind does what my consciousness wants, thats free will; Like being unable to move your body but you have a psychic friend with telekinesis that gives you back that ability: The negatives cancel out and you regain the ability. And yes my consciousness doesnt truly "want" anything other than to feel happy, as its nothing more than an abstract measurement of how i experience things.

And you may wonder "how" or "why" does the mind care about its consciousness. Maybe its emergent from super high intellgence, or maybe the consciousness itself sought out a mind that cares. Either way, i think we all would find plenty of personal evidence of this. Because you wouldnt walk through that teleporter either, would you? Thats Free Will speaking; Your mind wants to preserve your consciousness, even though it wouldnt disbenefit it to trade that out.

All consciousness looks identical from the outside. Its stateless, like a blank slate. The mind is like the paint that goes on the canvas. And in our case, the paint has an emotional attachment to the canvas, due to super intelligence. My mind wouldnt want to trade my conscious identity for yours, and im sure yours wouldnt want to either. This is why we have free will: The mind serves its conscious identity.