

If free will isn't real, why does it seem so real? - jballanc
http://ideasurfer.tumblr.com/post/116705791/if-free-will-isnt-real-why-does-it-seem-so-real

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michael_dorfman
Why try to frame this in terms of "evolutionary advantage"? There's absolutely
no reason to believe that the belief in free will is not epiphenomenal, or a
spandrel.

I know that evolution is a very impressive hammer, but that still doesn't make
every trait a nail.

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Raphael
Free will is doing (or at least imagining) what you want or feel is best. Your
moods, whims, desires, and so forth can be controlled by inevitable subatomic
physics, and those are synthesized by your thought processes to take a course
of action. Since your brain wiring and chemical balance will be unique in a
subtle way, that gives you a personality you can call your own. Imagine if
everyone were required to change at least one line of code in their software
before running it. The different computers would seem like they had all kinds
of strange motives.

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jhancock
Your comment suggests that "free will" in a human mind is a result of small
differences in the makeup/brain chemistry of the individual.

Its my understanding that the 'free will theorem"
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will_theorem> is not that. It says "if we
have a certain amount of "free will", then, subject to certain assumptions, so
do some elementary particles."

It may well be that both your perspective _and_ the free will theorem are at
play.

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tungstenfurnace
Perhaps free will seems unreal because you believe that you can only make one
choice in any situation, and that this choice is predetermined by physics.

However, according to the many-worlds interpretation of QM, you do in fact
make every possible decision, in every situation.

