Free Will, Part 4

In the last part of this series I pointed out that even if the Universe is deterministic, it cannot be predicted to any degree of accuracy. The future is therefore mostly opaque to us, regardless of how much insight or computer power we have available to us.

Now let's consider the nature of brains and indeed all other things that are part of the Universe.

According to the Big Bang theory, the initial Universe was an incredibly hot soup of particles. This soup cooled down enough in the first few minutes to allow protons and neutrons to form via a process of fusion. This process stopped after about 17 minutes and then it took another 250,000 years before atoms started to form.

The force of gravity gradually pulled the atoms into clumps which formed quasars after about 150 million years. A billion years later, stars also started to form. Our own solar system was formed about 8 billion years ago.

There is nothing about this story of the Universe that is incompatible with determinism. The state of each particle, neutron, atom, molecule, rock, planet and star could be the result of an extremely long and complex chain of events.

As time marched on, more complex structures evolved such as replicating molecules, RNA, DNA, cells, plants, insects, and animals. Even thoughts are structures. And just like atoms and molecules, each could be the result of a chain of events. Complex structures have a much richer set of behaviors but they're still ultimately made of the same stuff.

If the Universe is deterministic and thoughts are structures within the Universe, then it follows that our thoughts are a result of a chain of cause and effect. In the next part of this series I'll consider the consequences of this observation.

Comments

[Joe]

"The state of each particle, neutron, atom, molecule, rock, planet and star is the result of an extremely long and complex chain of events."

This is a false statement, so there's no point in continuing on with any argument built on top of that.

[Graham Glass]

Hi Joe,

Could you explain why this statement is false?

Cheers,
Graham

[Graham Glass]

Hi Joe,

Just in case, I changed "is" to "could be", since my conclusions regarding Free Will do not depend on whether the Universe is deterministic.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,
Graham

[Tim Farage]

Graham,

The overwhelming evidence is that quantum mechanics is valid, and so determinism is unlikely. However, your argument that even if determinism is true, there is no practical way to follow a deterministic chain is also true.

Tim

[Graham Glass]

Hi Tim,

As I mentioned in part 2 of this series, Quantum Mechanics does not imply non-determinism.

Cheers,
Graham