Free will Definition and 98 Threads

I do not like superdeterminism because it makes reality Newtonian. However, the objection that superdeterminism means that there is no free will and free will is required for science is silly. Computers lack free will, but they still figure out what's going on. from the introduction to the...

I'm not following the above quote about free will "This fundamental assumption is essential to doing science" If I perform experiments and find that conditions X are followed by conditions Y and Y=F(X) (or the probabilistic analog for QM), haven't I done science, independent of how much my free...

Summary: Is "free will", as it is usually interpreted, a foundational assumption of QM? I've done a search using the term "free will" and have done a ctrl+f "free will" to go through those threads but I feel that the best way to find definitive clarification on my question is to ask specific...

I was reading the free will theorem and it basically says that subatomic particles and observers have to have free will because there's nothing prior to measurement that predetermines the outcome. Here's more: The free will theorem states: Given the axioms, if the two experimenters in question...

I don't think it can because whatever it wills is predicated by assumptions made by the person who coded it.

Does the Heisenberg uncertainty principle mean that some particles do not have law-determined properties like position and momentum, or does it mean that their properties cannot be measured accurately? In other words, do all particles have a certain position and momentum at time t? This question...

Hi. As far as I understand, superdeterminism (i.e. the experimentators are not free to choose the measurement parameters) allows the formulation of a local realistic quantum theory. But apparently physicists don't like the thought of not being in charge. Anton Zeilinger: "[W]e always implicitly...

This delayed choice quantum eraser experiment captured my attention and after deep thought about it, I find it really startling and totally punishing to my common sense. My question is: Can you predict the future, say, a human's mind, using the quantum eraser? I imagine a modified version of the...

Hi. What's the exact relation between the assumptions "counterfactual definiteness" and "existence of free will"? I (think I) know their "definitions" in QM: counterfactual definiteness: ability to speak meaningfully of the definiteness of the results of measurements that have not been...

I watched a documentary by Brian Greene, "The Illusion of Time" a few weeks ago, and a question has been bothering me ever since. In the documentary he explains that an alien, traveling toward the earth, would see into our future. So here is my question. The second half of a college football...

Thank you for your valuable time sorry I don't know appropriate place to get clarification. 1. I've read that if one could know the position, speed etc of every atom or particle in the universe one could predict how everything would turn out. If this is true then is there a scientific argument...

Isnt "there's no free will" the simplest explanation for "spooky action at a distance" ? Bell himself said it: "There is a way to escape the inference of superluminal speeds and spooky action at a distance. But it involves absolute determinism in the universe, the complete absence of...

this is probably not appropriate but i don't know where to ask. if classical physics was correct then everything would be predestined and we have no free will. quantum physics merely added "randomness" to it, our thoughts are not chaotic and random. can someone explain how this randomness can...

I was reading this today and what the outcome would be predicted to be. http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2014/closing-the-free-will-loophole-0220.html I'd never heard before of a free will loophole!

Based on the state of science so far, I'm of the opinion that free will does not exist. When I say "free will", I mean that our thought processes and bodies are controlled entirely by natural laws. If our brain is governed by classical principles, then it's completely deterministic. If there are...

About two weeks ago I read Sam Harris’ book Free Will. Harris' thesis is that free will is an illusion. The following is a very brief summary of his reasoning: All humans’ behavior is entirely controlled by the physical properties of their brains. A person did not make his or her brain...

http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0604079 The TWIN axiom:. For twinned spin 1 particles, if the first experimenter A performs a triple experiment for the frame (x, y, z), producing the result x → j, y → k, z → l while the second experimenter B measures a single spin in direction w, then if w is one...

I was discussing the concept of free will with my professor and he asked me to ponder over the question of whether bacteria has free will. I answered no as everything it does has a simple reason like it will move towards food whereas it will move away from an unpleasant area and so on. It...

I have always been quite curious how physicists reconcile the concept free will with the determinism of physics. By determinism I mean the one at macroscopic level, because I know that at quantum level most of the things are based on probabilities. So there's no free will for an electron...

Hey all, Since first learning about Emmy Noether's proof that time invariant laws of physics imply conservation of energy, I can't shake the idea that this is the argument against the notion of free will. Here is my argument: By Noether's first theorem, whenever the laws are invariant in...

It's a question I've been lingering on to for some years now. If the laws of physics are invariant in time, then energy is conserved through time. Shouldn't that imply there is no free-will; there is no room in the laws of physics for energy to be shifted around inside each one of our brains as...

As of late i have been musing upon the nature of free will. However i disagree with the standard interpretation of the link between Determinism and free will. Incompatibilism states that Free Will and Determinism cannot co-exist, and i agree with this stance. Where i disagree is with the...

The Logic of Believing in Free Will Please Be Aware: My “proof” here is by no means complete. In all honesty, although I have spent countless sleepless nights pondering this in my head, my thirst for knowledge and truth in the matter has only just begun. With that in mind, I kindly request...

Hello :smile: I think my question is clear... Another questions that need to be asked: What about the deterministic interpretations of QM? and Do indeterministic interpretations PROVE that there is really no causality on subatomic level ? Please help me! I am more than a little confused...

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle only seems to have implications for our understanding of the body of knowledge produced by science, not reality itself. The uncertainty comes from the inability to make two separate measurements, since each measurement will disturb the system and change the...

The questioner at 1:18:10 explains my thoughts on this very well. Dennett does not deny determinism. But he does suggest free will, that humans are capable of doing otherwise, and that there is more than one possible future, which he does not prove. Your thoughts?

This looks interesting, but I am not sure I understand it. Does it resolve the nonlocality issues of quantum mechanics that arise in the viewpoint of relativity? “Roderich Tumulka (Department of Mathematics, Rutgers): “The GRW Flash Theory and the Conway-Kochen ‘Free Will’ Theorem.” In...

A recent thread on free will did not meet the criteria of the forum, but perhaps a similar discussion could be generated by borrowing directly from the example in the rules: "The research of Benjamin Libet suggests that our decisions to act occur before our conscious awareness of them. Isn't...

Determinism is the belief that every event is caused by a preceding event, the universe is governed by fixed physical laws, that there is no such thing as chance, and that there is one determinable future. Essentially, it is like a domino effect; the future of the universe has been determined...

Does quantum randomness or uncertainty tells us that we have free will?

"Once confined to fantasy and science fiction, time travel is now simply an engineering problem." Michio Kaku If time travel were to be operational right now and I want to go 5 days towards the future and record all the events that have transpired, and go back again to the present time, am I...

I'm new at philosophy (not so new at physics though), I mean, I haven't read much about it, so please bear with me if I'm asking something obvious. A couple of days ago I realized that assuming humans obey the laws of physics we know so far, there's no place for free will. Free will is...

We know that we, as humans, with our free will, can alter/impact our earthly world, and to some extent, our solar system. How much **possibly** we can impact/alter our part of the galaxy and/or universe? Is there any role for free will in the continuity of the universe? Just wondering if there...

Assuming materialism; I'm making this thread because I cannot understand the position that free will exists under materialism. There are a very large number of these philosophers and neuroscientists, I've read all (or most of) their arguments, and they've yet to show exactly where the...

Do we have free will? If not, then we are all puppets and every thought, feeling, word, decision and action that we experience are an illusion. This is the only option if we consider empirical science to be capable of producing a "TOE". The output of our brains can then only be the product...

I started this thread for the discussion of the consequences of our knowledge of physical determinism/probabilism on consciousness. What are your viewpoints regarding what I think are two possible scenarios: a. Consciousness can be solely attributed to the physical brain (it is a physical...

I read many threads in this forum (in QM section), and in many cases I witnessed the same logical flaw over and over again. People conclude that, for example, if world is deterministic, than there is no free will, because our consciousness is deterministic too. Why? Because our brain is nothing...

I was wondering if anyone can provide me with literature that resolves the issue of free will as brought forth by modern physics, ie. the fact that atomic processes cannot be fully determined. Thank you for your concern,

Dear Group, This new paper by two famous Princeton mathematicians named J.H. Conway and S. Kochen examines a particular case in quantum mechanics (QM) and then proves a new theorem which shows that if humans can be said to have "free will" then so do elementary physical particles. They...

All right, for arguments sake we shall assume that the neurons of the human central nervous system function in a simplified way, it shall soon become clear that this isn't relevant to the experiment, we shall assume they work as: 1: They receive an electrical charge via one to more inputs 2...

Your Reasons Why "Free Will" is an Illusion Cmon all you determinists. Provide me with your reasons and I will pick the best one. We are having a debate in my class and I need some thoughts. POST AWAY! I am looking for the best reason.Criteria for argument: -Short -Simple -Strong The...

Who still believes in a true 'soul like' free will? Hasn't neuroscience done enough to refute this ancient idea? And if not true free will, then what guides human behavior?

Apologies in advance, as I know this has been discussed before. I believe that, ultimately, the human body is comprised of nothing more than inanimate matter. Yes it's complex, but every organ, in fact every cell in the body, is ultimately comprised of atoms and associated sub-atomic...

Free will? Not as much as you think You're going to press that button, right? You know you're going to press it and then . . . you make a conscious decision and you press it, right? Maybe not, say German researchers in a new study published in the April 13 online edition of Nature...

Imagine two parallel universes. Everything is exactly the same. In these universes, there exists a man whose desires, knowledge, experience, thoughts etc. are exactly the same. Exactly the same. In one Universe, he kills his wife; in the other, he doesn't. This is consistent with libertarian...

"I'm only a high school student, but having recently studied the nervous system I would have to say that there is free will, if free will is defined as the ability for the brain to analyze senses and make create different options, in some cases each with a probability of living, for example if u...

I would just like to introduce myself, as I am new to this forums, someone linked me to it from youtube.com. I was wanting to share one of my philosophy "theories" with you guys, who will probably rip it to threads, due to it just being a rough draft idea I came up with while thinking one day...

I was with a group of religous friends and they started talking about the "true meaning of prayer". I felt like changing the subject so I diverted the conversation to the question of free will. I said that since the brain controls what the body does and the brain is a physical entity which...

Does QM allow "free will"? Some people argue that QM is complete because if there were deterministic hidden variables behind QM, then the determinism would not allow free will. However, such an argument for completeness of QM is completely meaningless for the following reason: If QM is...

If there is an omnipotent god, how can we have free will? An omnipotent being would know the future, therefore the future would be set down, and we could not make decisions for ourselves.