When you add chaos to a deterministic model it becomes unpredictable
My ability to thwart all predictions re: my future behavior, while at the same time predicting it for myself, with precision, years in advance--really has little to do with chaos, and a lot to do with choice. I know your ideas on this and respect them, but if you are convinced there are no more forces or facts to be uncovered in the world of consciousness (which is basically unexplored and uncharted), then we are not likely to clear any new ground or plant a crop.
The problem I see with the theory of determinism and its relevance to human choiceis simply a lack of evidence. Scientists cannot use the theory for any predictability, nor for replication, when it comes to Choice or Will; So why do they even consider something that is so unscientific? When one understands there is a solution to a problem, one is suddenly most of the way there. The reason scientists are not able to put together a coherent theory that includes human will, is because they have denied it, and they are not looking for a theory to explain it.
I do not mean that the laws of motion, etc. cannot be used as predictive, and that they are not the basis for replication of scientific fact: I mean that, when it comes to Free Will, which is, after all, the issue--determinism is not a natural fit. Any experiment designed to lend any credibility to a deterministic theory would fail miserably. The uncertainty principle does not account for the apparent freedom to choose. Rather, the certainty principle, (if I may be bold), is what carries the day here. The certainty that, no matter how a team of scientists tries to predict my behaviour, there is 100 % certainty that I will be able to thwart them (provided I am not deprived of my freedom). The certainty that even if every human being in the world predicts a different behaviour for me, every single one of them will be wrong (I'll walk through the blue door while lifting my right toe, and thinking about 31 mice in a cloud). The certainty that--while my behaviour may not be predicted by the objective, exterior world--it can be predicted and fulfilled in the world of my Will. I CAN predict absolutely precise behaviour for years in advance--behaviour so bizarre that it could not be considered to have any connection to anything currently happening in the materialistic and mechanistic environment (except for what is occurring in my intention and will right now--and I can make it happen). This, provided I remain free, and providing the choice exists in reason and reality.
Everyone simply accepts determinism as if it had some Godlike sanction. This reductionist conceit of atomic theory has held the scientific community back for years. Occam's Razor frowns on the theory, common sense frowns on the theory. The theory does not explain human choices. Determinism explains the physical world; It does not explain the world of thought. We know there are forces in the world such as gravity that help to define the truth about the universe. Why is it so difficult to conceive of an idea force that is of a different substance than the atomic wave/particle model--and/or is of a different type of that substance? We don't know what gravity is; We just know that it is. I don't know what Free Will is; I just know I have it. My choices are made independently of the influence of the deterministic world around me, and they do not follow naturally but are based on value judgements. The world influences me; it does not make any of my choices NECESSARY. Anyone attempting to prove the contrary will fail miserably.
It might be natural for a person to choose to recant. But I believe I would be like Bruno, and say "light the fire".
I don't know what Free Will is; I only know that the theory of determinism cannot make any useful or predictive statements in regards to how my choices are made. A theory that has nothing useful or meaningful to say as regards human choices, is hardly more valuable than no theory at all.
I know this is almost like saying that the Earth circles the sun. I am sure I will thus have the pity of many, and that people might need to whisper quietly behind my back, and raise arch eyebrows: "Poor man! Feeble intellect! But what choice does he have?! There but for the first atom that moved...go I".
I have Free Will. Someday, everyone will. You don't have to believe me... |
