Free Will

Introduction

This was going to be a book, I’ve been meaning to write it for over 10 years, I had all the chapters planned out, but I’ve never got around to it, so it doesn’t look like it will happen now. Perhaps I can just make it an essay or a blog post.

The idea all started those many years when I wondered – How do I raise my arm? Sure, my muscles raise my arm through electrical and chemical signals, those are sent from my brain. But what is starting those deep in my head, what is thought, what is consciousness, what is free will? I bought lots of books and set about reading into the subject. I didn’t know then that my idea was along the same lines as that of a friend’s father – although he did manage to write the book (#1). I also never knew that in the end I would come the closest I ever have to religious belief.

I think therefore I am

Descartes said “I think therefore I am” – in which he proved he existed, because he was the one wondering what existed. What he proved to himself was that his mind existed, not necessarily his body. Following this, Dualism is the belief that the mind and body are separate, which is essence is quite spiritual. However, if we believe that to be true, then how does the mind affect the physical world? How are thoughts converted into the physical signals necessary to move an arm? While Materialism takes the opposing view that even the mind must be made of the same stuff as the rest of the known universe – the atoms, molecules, protons, electrons etc.

For Every Action

We learn physics in school. Physics teaches us that everything behaves according to the rules of nature. An apple falls down from a tree, and Sir Isaac Newton discovered the laws of gravity. Then there are laws of thermodynamics, motion, electromagnetism, etc. The point being that everything is the universe obeys the laws of physics (except Scotty in Star Trek can sometimes bend them). The basic principle is given a set of start conditions the laws of physics will tell you what will happen. Bring a flame to a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen – bang. Raise and release the a ball from Newton’s cradle – you can determine what will happen – the world is deterministic.

Unpredictable

But predetermined, doesn’t mean predictable. This lack of predictability is most often seen at smaller scales. In short, chaos theory, says that small changes in the input parameters make large changes in the outcome – so even small measurement errors will mean that the world is not predictable – this is the Butterfly Effect. However, measurement on the smallest of scales is not possible due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle (no time to explain). Linked to that is is quantum mechanics, in which particles are actually probability waves. One particle can exist in multiple places with some degree of probability. In the, mind-blowing, double slit experiment, a particle travels from a source in the direction of a detector, through one of two slits. But in experiment it goes through both simultaneously.

Weirder still are quantum mechanic counterfactuals, which imply that physical effects in the world are possible simply from the possibility of something happening in the quantum world, even if that something didn’t actually happen in the ‘real’ world.   

Quantum Physics in Biology

Scientists have been stumped for years, wondering how birds seem to navigate using the earths gravitational field. Now it appears that birds’ eyes make use of quantum particle entanglement, within a photo sensitive chemical. The quantum probability is subtly affected by the earths gravitational field, which is enough to change the balance of chemicals in the eye, which in turn allows a bird to navigate.  

The Mind  

Roger Penrose (#3) explored the computational power of the structure of the brain, and various models that science puts forward. Most experts agree that the model where neurons and synaptic junctions equate to transistors is too simple to explain the computational power of the mind. Theories exist to address the missing computational power, for example that the effect of neurotransmitter chemicals is not just local, or that the neuron cytoskeleton is more complex, or that quantum effects are at work. Penrose favours microtubules – cylindrical protein microstructures – which he suggests may channel quantum waves to collapse (#5). It’s not just Penrose, as but both Crick (#4) and Penrose (#3) acknowledge that very many other scientists believe that quantum indeterminacy has a part to play in consciousness or free will. Some (Henry Stapp) go further and believe that quantum waves only collapse when they come into contact with a conscious observer (Papineau and Selina #5).

When did or does consciousness appear?

If consciousness is something other than the physical constructs of the brain – when, where, how did it come into being? When in our journey from single cell organisms did we acquire it? In fact, when from a sperm and egg does consciousness arrive? These are questions Francis Crick (#4) struggles with. It seems from this argument that apart from a religious answer – that God gave us it – that in fact consciousness is physical, we evolved consciousness for competitive advantage. Then as a brain grows inside or outside the womb, at some point a person becomes conscious.

Summary

I haven’t had time to write this as I would have liked, I may have lost some readers in boredom or brevity, for others I may have failed to clearly express the arguments. I shall try to summarise.

The brain is physical, within it somewhere signals are generated to control conscious movement. Those signals are physical. Conscious thought starts those signals. Therefore, either conscious thought is:

1. Itself physical.
2. Some undiscovered science that can affect our known physical world.
3. Other worldly – religious.

If conscious thought is itself physical (option 1), then it must obey the laws of physics. The laws of physics are deterministic, set by the starting conditions, it will always play out in one direction. Not necessarily predictable by us, but always predetermined. That means there is no place for Free Will. If think your thought can influence that – you are into option 2.

If option 2 is correct and we have yet to discover the Science of the Mind (#2) then what is this magic?  If this new science is not predetermined by the input parameters but is influenced by our thought, then I’d argue we find ourselves in option 3 – the realms of religion.

And if option 3 is correct – we end up with the Google query I found open on the home desktop when Zara was 6. “Who made God?”.

Personal thoughts

Either the mind is made of the science we know, or a science yet to be discovered, but I can’t see a science where consciousness is handed out by an eternal being. I say consciousness is based on science, and that it obeys the laws of physics and hence is deterministic. If it is deterministic then Free Will doesn’t exist. It is an illusion.

So, we move from physics, chemistry and biology to philosophy. It means that ‘fate’ is real, we only think we can influence the future through our decisions, but everything is determined, everything is fate. We are not in control. What does that mean for society – do we lock people up because they choose to kill someone? Or was it just the alignment of molecules in their head that made that choice?

By now I’m sure I’ve alienated or lost many readers, for those are still with me, my conclusion is the most worrying thought I’ve ever had – there is no Free Will.    

  References

1. The Mental as Physical – Edgar Wilson (my copy provided by Nicole – thank you)
2. Science of the Mind (Flanagan)
3. Shadows of the Mind (Penrose)
4. The Astonishing Hypothesis (Crick)
5. Introducing Consciousness (Papineau and Selina)
6. Contemporary Materialism (Moser and Trout)
7. Consciousness Explained (Dennett)