Free Will

[netmouse]

In the comments on yellowmouser's journal here and here I engage the question of whether or not free will is an illusion (I think not). Updated to add: J argues against me here.

What are your thoughts on the question? Is it an interesting question or purely a polemic debate?

Comments

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

Re-posting from the other thread:
I also believe in something like behavioral determinism. All that came before determined our "choices" today. The randomness of the universe makes it hard to predict what we'll do, and it's important to act as if we have a choice, but if we knew all the factors, we'd know what each person would do next.

And, as I also said to J., the above, and J.'s summary on the other thread, are pretty close to the same conclusion that Michael Shermer comes to in "The Science of Good and Evil" after examining 7 or 8 arguments in favor of free will. I recommend giving it a read if you haven't before. You still may not agree, but it's an interesting analysis.

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

Do you guys have a copy I could borrow?

In complexity theory, it isn't just the randomness of the world that makes it hard to predict, its also emergent behaviors of complex systems - basically, the interconnectedness of things and how structure evolves out of chaos in certain circumstances.

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

No, sorry, I got mine from the library.