----- Original Message -----
From: Bruno Marchal
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 11:54 AM
Subject: Re: Free will: Wrong entry.
Marty,
I think the question, "Do you believe in free will?" could as easily be,
"Do you believe in Santa Claus or God or Fate and on and on." We loudly assert:
"I do what I want!!" But without considering the factors that influence
(determine?) our wants and desires. No. I don't suppose I 'believe" in free
will.
You are right. Free will is a bit like God, Santa Klaus, or the primitive
Universe. The main problem is that people have very different definitions,
usually loaded with heavy connotations, and lot of emotional factors, wishful
thinking, etc.
To defend free-will, or at least "responsibility", I often mention the lawyer
who defend a murderer by saying that his client was just obeying to the
Schroedinger equation.
This obviously will not work, if only because the members of the jury can
respond by "we judge you fully guilty and ask jail for life", and then add, but
don't worry, we are also just obeying to Schroedinger wave equation.
Such explanation doesn't just lead to arbitrariness, but they are wrong,
deeply wrong. No universal machine can know all its influencing and determining
factors, and that is why, in complex environment, they will have to use
shortcut in decision procedure, which invokes their conscience, and their
notion of good and bad, and eventually have to engage their responsibility, in
some large or small measure. Experts can debate infinitely on each individual
cases, and can never be sure on this matter, and that is why in many law
systems, a reference will be made on the judge intimate conviction.
If we are determinate, we cannot live at the level where we are determinate.
The soul (Bp & p) of the machine (Bp) is "really" NOT a machine, from its
personal point of view. So, some free will exists. And some feeling of
guiltiness are founded, even if only "god" can know and judge impartially.
Bruno
http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~marchal/
Bruno,
What sort of "short cut" are you talking about? I don't see any short
cuts here. I can see where people will find reasons afterwards to justify their
decisions by consulting conscience and notions of good and bad, but that's all
a posterior. marty a.
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