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Article 6656 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert)
Subject: Re: Freewill, chaos and digital systems
Message-ID: <1992Aug19.210204.29868@mp.cs.niu.edu>
Organization: Northern Illinois University
References: <Bt4xt1.MA0.1@cs.cmu.edu>
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 21:02:04 GMT
Lines: 63

In article <Bt4xt1.MA0.1@cs.cmu.edu> rudis+@cs.cmu.edu (Rujith S DeSilva) writes:
>(1) Does freewill arise solely through the mechanism of chaos?

Here is one way of looking at free will.

PART I

Usually we think of free will as the ability to make a decision, and
have that decision affect what we do in the future.  That is, we make a
choice, and can stick to that choice.

Now keep in mind what it means to "make a choice".  This choice is
something that happens in your thoughts.  Your thoughts are not
something etherial and mystical which happens in some never never land
far away; your thoughts are events that occur in your brain.  Neurons
are activated; electro-chemical actions occur.

So, the question of free will is just the question of whether this
event in your brain - the decision event - can influence future events
in your brain.  Now this, surely, is what determinism is all about.
Free will requires a high degree of deterministic behavior in the
functioning of your brain.  Our sense that we have free will is really
a strong argument for determinism.

PART II

You might now ask about your thoughts.  Perhaps it is correct that
decisions affect future behavior deterministically.  But what about
your decision.  Were you really free to make that decision?  Or does
determinism somehow mean that your decision is determined in advance?
Is free will a sham?  Is life just a charade?

Well, yes, your decision is determined in advance, but no, free will is
not a sham, and life is not a charade.  Consider the following
imaginary conversation:

    "Whom did you vote for in the last election?"

         "I voted for A."

    "Could you have voted for B?"

         "I have free will.  Of course I could have voted for B if I
         wished."

    "That's not quite what I mean.  Think back to the way you felt
    during that election.  Now, could you really have voted for B?"

         "Well, no.  There is no way I could have voted for B.  I have
         very strong principles, and his policies violated those
         principles."

Now think for a moment about what those principles might be.  They are
not something mystical or etherial.  The principles consist of
something which is encoded in your brain.  This physical substance
which represents your principles is part of the universe, and is part
of what determines your action.  So, yes, you decision on how to vote
was indeed predetermined.  But it was not a sham; your reasoning was
not a charade.  The physical conditions which predetermined your vote
was that physical substance in your brain which represents your
principles.  Your reasoning was completely correct.  It was your
principles, or their physical embodiment, which determined your vote.



