Does ChatGPT have choices?

From: Friam <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Stephen Guerin
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2024 3:36 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Breaking Bad and Free Will

Anyone interested in feeding FRIAM Archive to a custom LLM. :-)

Prompt: Interpret Marcus use of gdb analogy in this thread:

GPT:
The analogy used by Marcus in the context of the TV show "Breaking Bad" and the 
concept of free will involves a comparison with using the "step" command in GDB 
(GNU Debugger). GDB is a tool used by programmers to debug code. The "step" 
command in GDB allows the user to execute program code one line at a time, 
observing the behavior and state of the program at each step.

In "Breaking Bad," the main character, Walter White, is drawn into a life of 
crime. The analogy suggests that watching Walter White's descent into this life 
is like using the "step" command in GDB. Each step represents a decision or 
action taken by Walter, leading him deeper into the criminal world. Just as a 
programmer observes the progression of a program one step at a time in GDB, the 
viewer observes Walter's journey into criminality in a step-by-step manner.

The implication here is that Walter's choices, while appearing to be individual 
conscious decisions, are part of an inevitable progression, much like the 
sequential execution of code in a debugger. This raises questions about free 
will and determinism, mirroring the discussion in the FRIAM group about whether 
free will is an illusion, especially in the context of strong compulsions or 
character traits that might limit one's range of choices.
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On Thu, Jan 25, 2024, 4:20 PM Frank Wimberly 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
GNU Debugger?

---
Frank C. Wimberly
140 Calle Ojo Feliz,
Santa Fe, NM 87505

505 670-9918
Santa Fe, NM

On Thu, Jan 25, 2024, 4:11 PM Marcus Daniels 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Walter White was drawn into that life as sure as water runs downhill.    
Watching him go deeper and deeper was like repeating “step” in GDB.

From: Friam <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> On 
Behalf Of Jochen Fromm
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2024 1:34 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
Subject: [FRIAM] Breaking Bad and Free Will

Since one of you mentioned today that free will is a recurring FRIAM topic I 
was thinking about it and found this SCIAM article that argues that human 
beings do have the power to make conscious choices.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/free-will-is-only-an-illusion-if-you-are-too/

On the other hand the drug addicts in Breaking Bad and elsewhere clearly 
demonstrate that drug addiction inevitably takes away our free will and 
replaces it by a strong compulsion to get and consume the drug, no matter how 
devastating the consequences are.

Robert McKee says in his book "Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the 
Principles of Screenwriting" that true character is revealed in the choices a 
human being makes under pressure. Could you say that a strong character or 
personality reduce our free will too, because they restrict our choices and 
decisions?

-J.

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