My heart can never understand
Why my mind, vital and body
Are so attached
To the fleeting finite.
Sri Chinmoy, Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees, part 9, Agni Press, 1998
/Do you think that precognition can restrict man's free will?/
Precognition does not necessarily restrict man's free will. It depends entirely on the wisdom-Light of the one who has the knowledge of the future and on his capacity to deal with the prediction. It may be helpful to have the capacity to know the future, but one should not pray to God to give him this capacity. One should pray to God only for the fulfillment of His Will.
/Is it good to have a knowledge of the future?/
To know the future is good only if you have patience, faith and the wisdom to use this knowledge in the proper way. Suppose you see that something discouraging, disheartening and destructive is going to take place in your life in the near future. Because you know in advance, you have the opportunity to pray to God to avert the calamity.
On the other hand, if you see something good, divine, inspiring, illumining and fulfilling is going to take place in the near future, then you can start offering your sincere gratitude to God, and also you can pray to God to expedite this fulfilling manifestation. God may listen to your prayers and accelerate the process if He sees that you truly value His blessings.
So if God blesses you with inner vision or with the capacity to know the future, then you have to utilize it properly. There are people who have the vision, but who are not wise enough to use it carefully. When they predict disastrous future events, they create useless and destructive fear in people, instead of inspiring them to pray for protection or illumination.