I would say that Free-Will is only the ability to act irrationally. We have the choice to Not do something. From the variety of impulses that come to mind, we discard all of those which do not seem appropriate at the time. This is freedom from irrationality. Rational positive choice is sq and has no freedom associated with it. We choose what not to do.
Of course the likes of Krimel have covered this in the distant past. Cheers, Mark On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 11:43 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Suppose we attempt to build a free-will robot. > It is designed to walk around town until it reaches an intersection with > WALK/DON'T WALK > signs. At that point it crosses in the WALK direction. > It has the "will" component but not the "free" component. > So we build in a random number generator. If it generates an > odd integer it crosses in the DON'T WALK direction; if an even integer it > crosses in the > WALK direction. > Now it has the "free" component but not the "will" component. > So we replace the random number generator with memory & rules. > The robot remembers that crossing in the DON'T WALK direction makes a fine for > "jaywalking" possible & that crossing in the DON'T WALK direction makes harm > more likely than crossing in the WALK direction. > It is also given rules to minimize fines & harm. > So now the robot acts like we act when we're rational. > But humans can act irrationally. So free will is the capacity to act > rationally > & avoid acting irrationally. > > Craig > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
