Re:Laws of Physics Can’t Trump the Bonds of Love
by mylittlepony on Wednesday December 26, 2012 @07:20PM
(#4971676)
I do not know there isn't free will, but I know there is nothing that suggests there is, other than this strong feeling we seem to have, which can't be trusted. So far, the universe seems to be deterministic, and our choices seem to be the result of deterministic reactions in our brains.
Re:Laws of Physics Can’t Trump the Bonds of Love
by disgruntledphd2 on Friday December 28, 2012 @08:54AM
(#4977653)
I dunno, I do take your argument about our feelings on the matter not necessarily being a useful guide.
Then again, deterministic actions (which is an assumption) in our brains do not necessarily correlate with a completely deterministic human. Perhaps the computation of such quantities as may be involved is impossible, and this would lead to a situation where even a completely deterministic universe could be compatible with the experience of "free will".
We probably need a better term for this sensation, as "free will" is a particularly loaded term.
If its the Gazzaniga experiment's you are referring to, then please note that they merely showed that conscious awareness in a student/university staff population lagged behind the brain activities presumably associated with their experience.
One would have to believe that all humans are imbued with free will eternally and for life at birth for such an experiment to convince you. Note that I do not believe this, so for me, these experiments do not necessarily disprove the existence of free will.