Peter Tse - How Free Will Probes Mind and Consciousness

Can free will reveal the nature of mental states? Free will seems so obvious, yet defies physical explanation. That’s the reason why free will can be a tool to explore the mind. Free will probes consciousness by examining what it means to pick, choose, select, decide in the closed physical system of the world. But is ‘free will’ just a trick of the brain?

Peter Ulric Tse is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in the department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Dartmouth College. He holds a BA from Dartmouth (1984; majored in Mathematics and Physics), and a PhD in Experimental Psychology from Harvard University (1998).

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.

[kratomseeker]

ty for saying this to people, i been wanting to say this to for years.

[patientson]

Peter Tse, you're a very smart man.

[Fuliginosus]

Ideas or information that can't be precisely attached to physical particles (e.g., 'democracy' or 'silliness') are not limited by physical realities. Instead of assuming everything is ordered from the bottom up, I think we should be open to a top down order, with ideas/information/ will directing matter.

[andrewmoran]

🧐Peter Tse is one of my favorite guests on your channel, due to my limited knowledge he’s one of a handful I appreciate his insight and delivery, that said, Closer To Truth top tier me thinks 🫣🤭👍👏

[patientson]

Informations are parameters or variables that make up a whole record.

[edwardtutman]

"On a fundamental quanta-mechanical level, Universe is undetermined..." Peter Tse and science.

[gordonquimby]

Information = constraints being met. Then one neuron fires, causing new constraints. How is that getting to free will? One neuron doesn't just fire to stimulate another neuron, each neuron has thousands of synapses.

[kiwanoish]

3:50 Not sure I understand his argument here: Theoretically you can run a deterministic model of physics backwards, yes. A biological model of neurons perhaps can't, for reasons explained, sure. But this is surely just a limitation of the resolution, i.e. biology is higher level emergent physics, which again, as argued could theoretically be run backwards. Perhaps indeterministic QM is necessary for parts of the mind, who knows, but that is not really part of his argument, so what am I missing here?

[duytdl]

4:40 "can't run the system backwards" Isn't back propagation exactly this? These episodes are really starting to date after chatgpt/llm popularity.

[mcgee]

Ok, im still not hearing anything indeterminate. Im still hearing Causal Determinism.

[ianwaltham]

Tse doesn't claim to know how neural activity could create consciousness.

He sounds like he believes in free will. But his description of neurnonal firing sounds like it's deterministicly caused by subjective understanding of worldly information such as associations with Jennifer Aniston(his example). As if consciousness supplies the brain with information that causes neuronal firing.

Another thing I remember about Tse from a previous CTT video is that he regards the Readiness Potential as being anticipation of an upcoming event. Not the brain making a decision then tricking consciousness into believing it made the decision, as is commonly believed by hard determinists.

[margrietoregan]

‘Information’ ?? ‘Information’ ??
Why is there no rigorous, mathematically, scientifically succinct & operationally manageable definition of this phenomenon ??
“A difference that makes a difference”. …. Not good enough ….
See my ‘long comment’ below …

[mikel]

"Firing" is not a "criterial satisfaction".
"Firing" is one link in the long causal chain taking place in order to "store" a specific amount of information.

[patientson]

When one runs, he does something usual. It is best you walk for a longtime to feel the effects of intelligence and proactive knowledge. Meet the criteria in summer, then your autumn and winter. The ants are a people not strong, but they work for their food in summer.

[dr_shrinker]

One cannot make decisions about things the universe hasn't presented. Therefore, a person's will is determined.

[djtomoy]

I choose to believe there is no such thing as free will, that’s my opinion as god decided it would be

[edwardprokopchuk]

Adding another causal link to the chain of events doesn’t give you free will.

[SRAVALM]

The wiseman ultimately revealed that we are not agents.
If you play chess, it seems you're free to make moves on your own terms, but all the moves in chess are predetermined; any move you make incurs further subjection.
This does not mean giving up on free will. Freewill is a potential – and it couldn't work any other way.. Therefore, never sell yourself short.

Even if "scientifically" we don't have freeiwll....guess what? It changes nothing.
There is a should seek that.

[bluesky]

Let me solve the problem of both “Neccessary Causality” and “Hard problem of consciouness”:Quran says: “Allah:there is no deity worthy of worship except he”:The Neccessary life/consciousness, sustainer of life/consciousness.” Wire like neuronal structures that conduct electricity via ions/neurotransmitters in the CNS/PNS possess no attribute of thinking/life and yet that has “randomly” led to life. Consciousness/thinking is an innate idea(“Fitra”)that is distinct from carbon skeleton and yet the materialist scientist believes that chemistry turned into biology via “god of randomness”/”Emergent property”/”law of nature”. Consciousness can only stem from Necessary Consciousness Perfection).

[gordonquimby]

He still can't explain consciousness, and therefore can't touch on free will. He knows a great amount and yet doesn't know.