When presented with the same reality, different people take different choices. This is what most understand by free will, but that's nothing more than a path through a set of weighted connections.
The same happens with inanimate bodies in the universe. Different bodies, even made by the same materials, take different paths given the same conditions.
All measurements in science, even classical ones hundreds of years ago, are made statistically. But that only shows that our understanding of the universe is limited by our capacity to measure it.
Quantum mechanics take those chaotic wave functions and extract physical properties from them, the same as measuring the distance of a stone throw did to Newton's mechanics.
That said, I can see only two choices for the universe: 1. The universe is deterministic and free will is just a matter of faith, or, 2. Determinism is an illusion and even inanimate things have free will.
Although I'm not claiming to have the answer, the first choice seems more logical but less comforting... ;)
When presented with the same reality, different people take different choices. This is what most understand by free will, but that's nothing more than a path through a set of weighted connections.
The same happens with inanimate bodies in the universe. Different bodies, even made by the same materials, take different paths given the same conditions.
All measurements in science, even classical ones hundreds of years ago, are made statistically. But that only shows that our understanding of the universe is limited by our capacity to measure it.
Quantum mechanics take those chaotic wave functions and extract physical properties from them, the same as measuring the distance of a stone throw did to Newton's mechanics.
That said, I can see only two choices for the universe: 1. The universe is deterministic and free will is just a matter of faith, or, 2. Determinism is an illusion and even inanimate things have free will.
Although I'm not claiming to have the answer, the first choice seems more logical but less comforting... ;)
Posted by: Renato Golin | Wednesday, 10 June 2009 at 04:15 PM