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comment by Kafke
Kafke  ·  3068 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Free will is back, and maybe we can measure it

    You seem to think the term "free will " refers to some other concept. What do you think free will is?

The defying of physical determinism. That is, when presented with an option, there is no way to predict what the individual will choose (given the choice is free and the user wills something). If there's a way to predict, the choice was never free to begin with and thus is not free will.

What's being talked about here is psychological will, which is indeed deterministic.





user-inactivated  ·  3068 days ago  ·  link  ·  
This comment has been deleted.
Kafke  ·  3065 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Nope. Because technically: 1. The measure of the spin of an electron may or may not be deterministic (depending on how things go). and 2. A "truly random event" is not willed, it's random.

I hold the position that free will is logistically impossible. Either it's free, which means it can't be willed. Or it's willed, which is inherently deterministic.

In order to have free will you must have a mechanism that functions based off the will of an agent. Meaning you'd need something external to physical reality, that then influences physical reality in a nondeterministic (that's also not random) way.

As I said, you have to defy physical determinism. But in the mean time, you need it to actually be willed.

It's very clear why free will can't be a thing. Will can be a thing. And certainly free will in terms of psychological agency over a body exists. But that 'free will' would be deterministic. Or perhaps random (but then it wouldn't be willed).