How did the atomic swerve make room for free will according to Lucretius?

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According to the Latin poet and philosopher Lucretius, the universe consists of an infinite number of atoms moving through a void. In his work De rerum natura, he explains that if atoms moved only in a straight, downward path, they would never collide to form the physical world.

To account for the creation of atomic systems, Lucretius posits that atoms occasionally undergo an indeterminate "swerve" by a minimal degree. These swerves are essential because they interrupt the rigid, deterministic causal chain of atomic motion. By breaking this chain, the swerve provides the necessary opening for free will to exist, allowing for agency within a materialist universe.1