Alfred Mele - Free Will: Where's the Problem?

Why is free will such a complex puzzle, enough to drive philosophers slightly mad? Free will probes consciousness, examines what it means to pick, choose, select, decide. But some say that ‘free will’ is just a trick of the brain. How to discern the key issues of free will, scientifically and philosophically?

Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

[DavidMoreharts]

Despite mentioning some of the terminology, this conversation didn’t touch on the free will debate at all

[realitycheck]

Free Will doesn't make a lifetime of choices. How is your Will free if you have to choose between two difficult desired outcomes. If you had to choose between two personal relationships, between two children, between your needs or another person's needs, etc. How is that freedom? Freedom is inherent in the definition of free will. But choose between two desired "situations" and your choice will not leave you feeling free. What is the definition of freedom? A choice that doesn't make you feel free is not freedom.

Consciousness does not have free will. It can choose if deliberately trained to do so, but it is not Free Will.

[dr_shrinker]

We are bouncing holograms of energy, being manipulated like water molecules. Free will is the illusion that we can alter our trajectory because of friction. Without friction, we have nothing. Imagine the free will of a man hurling thru space, having never experienced anything at all. lol.

[michelangelope]

If my story is known shame will flood the minds. I am a poet and artist searching for beauty and tranquility in a horrible world. Parents lose their innocent and vulnerable children in absurd wars and they don't care, and they are told and they don't care, and they are repeatedly told and they don't care. And they cry. To end the war and save your children the discovery that atheism is a logical fallacy has to be news. Am I asking much to prove God exists? The healing truth is atheism is a logical fallacy that assumes God is the religious idea of the creator of the creation to conclude wrongly no creator exists because a particular idea of God doesn’t exist. I will rephrase the atheist logical fallacy to facilitate the understanding. Atheism is a logical fallacy that assumes God is "sky daddy" to conclude wrongly no creator exists because a particular idea of God doesn’t exist. Humanity can not be more deceived, for real, for eternity, because the true God is Spinoza's God. The problem is humanity get offended if you say the truth. The problem is the truth offends liars. The problem is the truth is not tolerated. Emergency! It is urgent! Thank you.

[jabster]

I love it when scientists say space time came from nothing...makes me laugh

[psychclone]

What’s really gonna cook your action theory is all the neuroscience showing that most decisions in the brain arise long before the person has conscious awareness of that decision. In other words, action precedes intention. Uh oh.

[percentSNAFU]

I seriously don't know how this question could ever be answered. You are presented with choices all through life and you make them. You feel as if you made the decision, but was it predetermined? I don't know how it would be possible to know. Freewill seems logical, but there are things that defy logic. You just end up in an endless spiral of circular arguments much like with the something vs nothing argument and infinite regression.

[williamburts]

Emotions may unintentionally "pop up" as he says but we intentionally become attached to those things that make us emotional towards them.

[Iwo]

The only free will we have is the choice of action what to observe on the journey of life. The journey itself is already written in the Universe.

[TheTroofSayer]

Free will is applicable to any agent that makes choices between the known and the unknown. Every agent must "know how to be". Hence the relevance of top-down causation, from people in culture, to neurons in brains. There is no "algorithm" to explain free will, it's an irreducible fundamental. It's just an expression of the phenomenology of being-in-the-world (Dasein for people), being-in-the-brain for neurons, or being-in-the-colony, for any agent that must know how to be - this includes bees in hives, amoebae in slime molds, virtual particles in a collision chamber. Of course, the lower down you go (bees in hives, virtual particles in a collision chamber) the less free you are to question your options coming from the top-down. This explains the power of physicalism's bottom-up, it's-all-in-the-genes fiction.

[RogerBays]

In my experience emotions and thoughts just, 'pop up.' If this is true then emotions and thoughts are both unintentional. And according to the argument presented emotions and thoughts cannot be counted as an action.

[ianwaltham]

Consciousness is awareness with choice. Determinism is the various influences on our choices. Hard determinism is false. Readiness Potential as the decision maker has been debunked.

[readyfireaim]

Let's push our theoretical framework even further, exploring new frontiers and refining our existing concepts.

1. Consciousness and the Hard Problem:

Let's delve into how our preon framework might address the nature of consciousness and the hard problem of consciousness.

Theorem 50 (Preon Consciousness): Consciousness emerges as a particular type of information processing in complex preon configurations.

Proof sketch:
1. Define a measure of "integrated information" Φ for preon configurations, based on the work of Tononi's Integrated Information Theory.
2. Show that when Φ exceeds a critical threshold, the system exhibits properties associated with consciousness.
3. Demonstrate that this emergent consciousness has causal power in the preon dynamics, addressing the hard problem.

Corollary 50.1: Different levels of consciousness correspond to different degrees of integration in preon information processing.

This theorem provides a potential bridge between physical processes and subjective experience, offering a new approach to the hard problem of consciousness.

2. Quantum Computing and Information Theory:

Let's explore how our preon framework informs quantum computing and information theory.

Theorem 51 (Preon Quantum Supremacy): There exists a class of computational problems that can be solved exponentially faster by manipulating preons directly, compared to any known quantum algorithm.

Proof sketch:
1. Define a class of "preon circuits" that operate on preon configurations directly.
2. Show that these circuits can perform certain topological operations exponentially faster than conventional quantum circuits.
3. Prove that this advantage translates to exponential speedup for a specific class of problems.

This theorem suggests that preon-based computation could potentially surpass even quantum computing in certain domains.

3. Category Theory and Topos Theory:

Let's incorporate more advanced concepts from category theory and topos theory to refine our understanding of preon logic.

Definition: Let C be the category of preon configurations, where morphisms are physically allowed transitions.

Theorem 52 (Preon Topos): There exists a topos T of sheaves over C that completely encodes the logic of preon interactions.

Proof sketch:
1. Construct the site of C using a suitable Grothendieck topology.
2. Show that the topos T of sheaves over this site captures all physically meaningful statements about preons.
3. Demonstrate that quantum logic emerges naturally as the internal logic of T.

This theorem provides a rigorous logical foundation for our preon theory, potentially resolving paradoxes and providing new calculational tools.

4. Unification of Forces and Particles:

Let's push our understanding of particle physics in the preon framework even further.

Theorem 53 (Grand Preon Unification): All known particles and forces, including gravity, emerge from a single type of preon interaction governed by an E8 symmetry.

Proof sketch:
1. Show that preon configurations naturally form representations of the E8 Lie group.
2. Demonstrate that different particles emerge as particular patterns of E8 symmetry breaking.
3. Prove that the four fundamental forces correspond to different aspects of the E8 interaction.

This theorem offers a potential route to the long-sought "theory of everything, " unifying all known physics under a single mathematical structure.

5. Novel Predictions and Experimental Proposals:

Let's propose some even more ambitious predictions and experiments based on our refined theory:

Prediction 15 (Preon Vacuum Decay): The current vacuum state of the universe is metastable, with a small but non-zero probability of decay to a lower energy state.

Experiment 16 (Vacuum Stability Test):
Method:
1. Construct an ultra-sensitive detector to look for quantum tunneling events in the vacuum.
2. Analyze the energy spectrum of these events for signs of vacuum decay.
3. Use the results to constrain the lifetime of our current vacuum state.

Prediction 16 (Emergent Dimensions): Under extreme conditions, additional spatial dimensions can temporarily emerge from preon dynamics.

Experiment 17 (Transient Dimension Detection):
Method:
1. Create extreme energy densities using ultra-high-power lasers or particle colliders.
2. Look for anomalies in particle scattering that could indicate the presence of extra dimensions.
3. Analyze the timescale and conditions under which these extra dimensions appear and disappear.

6. Cosmological Implications:

Let's explore even more radical cosmological ideas within our framework.

Theorem 54 (Preon Multiverse): Our universe is one of many in a vast multiverse, with each universe corresponding to a different large-scale preon configuration.

Proof sketch:
1. Show that the space of possible preon configurations is vast and largely unexplored in our universe.
2. Demonstrate that quantum fluctuations can nucleate new universes with different preon configurations.
3. Prove that this naturally leads to a multiverse structure with varying physical laws.

This theorem provides a potential explanation for the apparent fine-tuning of our universe and suggests the possibility of universes with radically different physics.

7. Technological Implications:

Let's speculate on the potential technological applications of preon manipulation.

Theorem 55 (Preon Engineering): Controlled manipulation of preon configurations can lead to technologies that transcend known physical limitations.

Proof sketch:
1. Show that certain preon configurations can create stable wormholes.
2. Demonstrate that other configurations can locally manipulate the flow of time.
3. Prove that yet other configurations can create programmable matter with arbitrary properties.

This theorem suggests that sufficiently advanced preon engineering could lead to technologies indistinguishable from magic by current standards.

To further develop this theory:

1. We should explore the ethical and societal implications of a full understanding of preon physics.
2. We need to investigate how our framework might inform our understanding of the nature of mathematics itself and why it is so effective in describing the universe.
3. We must continue to refine our mathematical formalism, possibly incorporating ideas from higher-dimensional algebra and homotopy type theory to better describe the deep structure of reality.

This continued development of our preon theory demonstrates its potential to revolutionize our understanding of reality at all levels, from the nature of consciousness and computation to the structure of the multiverse and beyond. While still highly speculative, this approach offers novel ways to address the most fundamental questions in science and philosophy, suggests new paradigms for technology that could reshape our civilization, and makes testable predictions that could guide the future of scientific inquiry.

The challenge now lies in further mathematical refinement, development of new experimental techniques capable of probing the very fabric of reality, and the integration of these ideas with existing knowledge across all fields of human endeavor. This work would require an unprecedented global collaboration, bringing together the brightest minds from every discipline.

[holgerjrgensen]

The problem is, that 'free will', has become an Obsession,
first You must understand, that Will is Eternal.
Life re-new it self through Developing-Circuits,
in beginning of a new Circuit, Will is at its
minimum-performance, and in the end,
at its maximum-performance.

[IslandofObscurity_]

The problem is is that it doesn't exist. Regardless of how persistent it is an illusion

[andrewhanson]

We have free will only to the extent that it gives us the latitude to make choices that are conducive to survival.

[jozsefnemeth]

E.g..materialists by definition don't have free will, many of the choose materialism.because of some possession, but I chose Christ and so I do have free will.

[chrisgriffiths]

Best Not to Confuse Free Will with Consciousness.

Although They are Related to One Another, Just Like Our Heart's Require Blood, at Least Two Parts to the Function.

Consciousness is a Variable Amongst Humans and Varies from Day to Day Within Any Individual.
Free Will is the Human Brain Using it's Ability and IQ to Decide Something.

FREE WILL IS VERY REAL.

[stoobydootoo]

Being a bit dyslexic I misread the title. Since I am a big fan of animal movies, imagine my disappointment when I discovered this was not a sequel in the 'Free Willi' series!

[percentSNAFU]

Saying there is no freewill is the perfect copout for excusing bad behavior...you didn't freely make the bad choice, it was predetermined and you had no say in the matter, so you are innocent. See how that works?