We Might Not be Able to Understand Free Will with Science. Here’s Why
AnonTechie writes:
Understanding Free Will With Science:
Social media algorithms, artificial intelligence, and our own genetics are among the factors influencing us beyond our awareness. This raises an ancient question: do we have control over our own lives? This article is part of The Conversation's series on the science of free will.
Suppose you are thinking about doing something trivial, such as moving your index finger a little to the right. You are free to do it. You are free not to do it. You weigh up the pros and cons, and decide to do it. Lo and behold, your finger moves. Congratulations! You did it. This is a case of free will. Clearly it's not a momentous case. Nothing much depends on whether you move your finger. But imagine if something did. Imagine someone would be executed if you did move that finger. Then you'd be morally responsible, because you did it freely.
It seems as obvious as anything that we have free will. But lots of philosophers and scientists will tell you free will doesn't exist. The starting point of this argument is that free will is incompatible with determinism, a worldview that dominated science in the past and remains influential today.
US philosopher Peter van Inwagen provides a vivid illustration of this argument, in his book An Essay on Free Will. If determinism is true, the laws of nature and the past together guarantee you will move your finger. It therefore follows that if you have the power not to move your finger, you would also have the power to change the laws or the past. But that's ridiculous. You don't have such powers.
[Video]: Noam Chomsky on Free Will
So, do we have free will or don't we?
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