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Why does a brain being a physical system necessitate it being deterministic? It seems like the more we learn about quantum mechanics, the more things seem to b
by cortesoft 6y ago
Why does a brain being a physical system necessitate it being deterministic?
It seems like the more we learn about quantum mechanics, the more things seem to be probabilistic than deterministic.
The physical brain being probabilistic fits perfectly with the idea of free will.
- netizen-936824 6y agoQM does have some impact on functional biochemistry, but I highly doubt its enough to make the system nondeterministic at any appreciable level. Not to mention, do we truly know that any part of QM is nondeterministic? Perhaps the nondeterministic appearance of QM is just our lack of understanding combined with our limited perspective.
- PeterisP 6y agoI don't consider randomness as any more "free" than determinism - the concept of "choice" does not appear anywhere on the whole tradeoff spectrum between total randomness and total determinism. It does emphasise the point that any discussion based on a dichotomy between determinism and free will is fundamentally flawed, as randomness can be a relevant factor, so an anti-determinism argument is not necessarily a pro-free-will argument.
- cortesoft 6y agoWell, the definition of randomness is basically the inverse of determinable... it is something that is not predictable. The important characteristic for randomness is that there exists no knowledge that, if possessed, would allow you to predict the outcome. In that sense, free will meets the definition of random. In other words, not all randomness is free will, but all free will is random. So yes, anti-determinism does not prove free will, but determinism would disprove it.