Krish Ramkumar
Free Will
The ability of species to make choices based on consequences
could be simply called as free will. Is this free will really a choice that we
make or is it simply an illusion? There is no way to know. Free will to me
seems like a deterministic approach to reality. But there are quantum
uncertainties that are present at every nook and corner of the universe. We as
humans, I think can be sure that the free will is simply a decision that
originates in our brains. We also know that the brain consists of several
neurons that are ultimately made of electrons. After all, every entity in the
observable universe is made up of electrons or quarks to be more precise. Let
us for now take electron as the elemental particle. From quantum mechanics, we
deduce that these particles are highly uncertain and it is impossible to
pinpoint their path. To put it simply they are random and unpredictable which
makes them non-deterministic. When the most elemental process of making
decisions is based on such uncertainty, why is it that we think free will as
deterministic? This aspect of reality really confuses me because it seems like
the very act of decision making is completely random. If this is the case, the
universe by itself is completely random.
'Free will' is deterministic for each individual, or maybe the most reasonable choice. Making it random as every person has their own choices, and makes them deterministic in whatever they choose.
ReplyDeleteIf our world is predictable, everyone of us think and do the same, be perfect clones, unisex, disaster! Its this uncertainty which makes us special, including our thoughts.
even when you are given the power to make decisions, you are still given a finite number of choices.. ...randomness exists only in isolated systems ... once the system associates with another, its behaviour can be explained in relative terms...
ReplyDeletewith every new level of organization comes a new set of constraints and fewer degrees of freedom... the point you have reached where you are required to choose is based on a million choices you have made before... then how is one choice independent of the other?.. and every choice you make is dependent on a certain thought process which is a conditioned response to the situation you are in... so how can a choice be independent of the situation?.. and therefore how can it be random?...
..given n degrees of freedom, what would you do? you cant decide the array of choices but you can own your decision and take responsibility for it whether you believe in free will or destiny ... that is what makes us what we are.....and if we do go retrograde and manage to break down conditioned responses, then the array of choices grows larger....but since this is going to be subjective too, we will never know all the choices we could consider...
.. so for all practical purposes, free will is an illusion, a pretty illusion nevertheless.... although i don't believe that lack of absolute free will translates as 'pre destined'....
I am reproducing a relevant portion of my blog post which was based on the questions you have raised here -
ReplyDelete"However the exercise of free will has its own boundaries whether it is physical, intellectual or moral, and in that sense it is deterministic. On an individual level we are limited by our physical abilities – I may want to fly but it is not physically possible to do so. So also is our limitation on the intellectual level. We cannot choose our parents, our appearance or the environment we are born in. Our genes and the upbringing we have been subjected to, play a large part in shaping our personalities. So to that extent our life is preordained. Since no one knows the future, we can freely choose within the limitations we are bound by. We may ask whether what we ultimately choose is also preordained. In which case, we may draw the conclusion that free will is an illusion.
You may also see the link http://subbusg.blogspot.in/2013/04/freewill.html