News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Why can’t the world’s greatest minds solve the mystery of consciousness?. Parent comment

Re:Why can’t the world’s greatest minds solve the mystery of... by duaneb on Wednesday January 21, 2015 @02:42PM (#8925155)
The universe is not deterministic. However, this was used to say that "there is still free will!!!" (e.g. Penrose). So, there is "hard" and "soft" determinism—the universe may not be determinstic, but that doesn't mean we're any less determined by physical processes.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why can’t the world’s greatest minds solve the mystery of... by AnimalMuppet on Wednesday January 21, 2015 @03:02PM (#8925318)
But quantum uncertainty is not the same as me having free will, because my will does not control the quantum uncertainty. Quantum noise may influence the atoms that control the neurons that control my brain, but that just makes me not a perfectly-determined machine. There's noise at the bottom layer of the machine, but that noise is not the same as me having free will.
[ Parent | on HN ]