From a facebook discussion : free will
Well, the problem I have with saying I have free will is multifold. A: I am not sure I exist. “I” as a single entity might well be a illusion since I appear to be a cooperating collection of subnets, and experiments like cutting the corpus callosum argue strongly that I am not a single ego, that this is a illusion. B: I am not sure, if I do exist, that I’m not deterministic. Experimenting with artificial neural networks, I note that they tend strongly towards the deterministic unless measures are taken to keep them from being deterministic. C: I am not sure, if I do exist and am not deterministic, that it is free agency and not a RNG or random noise that is guiding my actions. And yet, the idea that I am a person wandering around taking actions of my own free will is very compelling. Especially when I start discussing the matter which seems very meta
November 23rd, 2017 at 9:29 pm
Nothing confirms existence and determinate free will like dealing with the mundane and pushing through ennui, because it reminds us that there is something in us that will give ourselves a kick up the arse when we languish too long. Love and creativity have the same effect. Because we despise entropy as a thinking species and Descartes’ dictum of “Cogito, ergo sum” becomes self-evident.