PG,
I had clicked the 'new thread' button and typed 'Determinism vs Free will' on the title form three times already. But I didn't have the courage to click the 'Post new thread'...
Anyway, this should get the fire going:
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~philos/...t/quantum.html
It's about the relation of metaphysics and QM, which suggests free-will. here's an excerpt
Quote:
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1. Free will. Many people are convinced that humans have free will, and yet are also convinced that the Newtonian-mechanical goings-on of things as large as neurons makes no room for free will. They thus turn to quantum mechanics in the hope that the non-determinism of the collapse of the wave function will provide a foot in the door for free will. Of course the wave function collapse is, according to current theory, random, and it is not clear that this is any better than determinism when it comes to explaining free will. Nevertheless, the hope seems to be that, at least in some cases, consciousness exerts its influence on the world through effecting some collapses, presumable some in the brain somewhere, in one way rather than another.
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Irish, it's good to see you back in the thick of the action. But don't run away when the going gets tough.
