

Brain Scanners Can See Your Decisions Before You Make Them - gaika
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/04/mind_decision

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thaumaturgy
Does this mean you're reconsidering your opinion that the idea of "free will"
is meaningless in an atheistic context? ;-)

Link to a PDF outlining the study, with graphs and methodology:
[[http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v11/n5/suppinfo/nn.2112_...](http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v11/n5/suppinfo/nn.2112_S1.html)]

Regardless, I don't see how this particular experiment threatens the idea of
free will. It found that there was a disconnect between the moment that a
person made a decision -- subconsciously -- and the moment in which they
became aware of their decision, or "decided to make a decision".

Also, the decisions being made required no consideration on the part of the
subjects, which I think is an important factor when talking about free will.
The test subjects didn't have to consider the consequences of their decisions
before making them; they simply pushed a button with either their left or
right hand.

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sysop073
This same foolish title confused Digg users a few months ago when this came
out. It should really be "Brain Scanners Can See Your Decisions Before You
Know You've Made Them"

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Hexstream
Also nothing can possibly see a decision before it's made because it doesn't
yet exist, by definition.

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mattmaroon
While I don't believe in free will, by any sane definition of the term, all
this would prove (even if their prediction algorithm were perfect) is that
there is a time lag between thought and action. A delay does not equal lack of
free will.

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river_styx
Exactly. This is not really a threat to compatibalist free will at all.

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iamelgringo
The only reason that the neuroscientists got this research published was
because they challenged the idea that there was no free will. It's a topic
that gets good press.

It was probably a great choice for their careers.

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qqq
> Brain Scanners Can See Your Decisions Before You Make Them

Cold readers can too. OMFG!

