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It’s my understanding that under our current scientific understanding of the mind, we cannot have “free will”. Where would it come from? All science knows is th
by jakear 6y ago
It’s my understanding that under our current scientific understanding of the mind, we cannot have “free will”. Where would it come from? All science knows is that neurons receive inputs from sensors, mixes them together (with some quantum randomness sprinkled in), and eventually actuates muscles to produce outputs, exactly as GPT.
Thus “free will” must come from some sort of faith. Either it was given to us by “God”, or we’re all part of some simulation and it exists on a level we don’t know about, or something else entirely too advanced for us to understand.
- ben_w 6y agoIt depends what you mean by “free will” — the phrase “free will” is as ill-defined as “common sense” and “consciousness”. I take the view that ∀ x ∈ <free will definitions>, Has(x, humans) ≡ Has(x, AI)
- jakear 6y agoI agree with your claim. I also believe many to see “free will”/consciousness/etc as that certain je ne sais quoi that separates the human experience from that of computers: ∀ x ∈ <free will definitions>, Has(x, humans) ≡ ~Has(x, AI) For these to both be true, <free will definitions> becomes empty. Thus I argue we have none. Edit, or rather it’s meaningless to argue if we have any or not, as it cannot be defined.
- lolc 6y agoFree will is a cultural concept, not a biological one. Consciousness may be driven by a biological machine, but development of our ego is influenced a lot by culture. Free will is faith in the sense that we learn the concept from our culture as our sense of self develops. The assumption of having it shapes our thinking such that we can say we actually have it. A person who took their inner voice as voice from the gods would have a restricted free will in this view.