Comments on: The Free Will Theorem http://www.alexwilliams93.org/2009/03/22/the-free-will-theorem/ Stories & Thoughts both Visual & Verbal Thu, 08 Sep 2011 10:02:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Keter http://www.alexwilliams93.org/2009/03/22/the-free-will-theorem/comment-page-1/#comment-66 Keter Tue, 24 Mar 2009 04:10:38 +0000 http://alexwilliams93.wordpress.com/?p=266#comment-66 Fascinating idea, but I rejected it pretty quickly when I first considered it because there must be a mechanical baseline that is reliable for intelligent life (as we know it) to evolve and discover free will. Imagine, for example, if gravity just decided to take a day off? Billions of years of evolution, gone as planetary atmospheres drained away into space and planets flew away from their stars... The brain, however, is not a single thing: lower life forms have independent ganglia that do their thinking without a brain. We have similar structures, and lots and lots of networking. But those sub-units probably have a form of free will and assert at least some influence over the rest of the network. Technically, just one of those "could" change our mind. Fascinating idea, but I rejected it pretty quickly when I first considered it because there must be a mechanical baseline that is reliable for intelligent life (as we know it) to evolve and discover free will.

Imagine, for example, if gravity just decided to take a day off? Billions of years of evolution, gone as planetary atmospheres drained away into space and planets flew away from their stars…

The brain, however, is not a single thing: lower life forms have independent ganglia that do their thinking without a brain. We have similar structures, and lots and lots of networking. But those sub-units probably have a form of free will and assert at least some influence over the rest of the network. Technically, just one of those “could” change our mind.

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