Determinism vs Free Will

I was discussing this with a friend the other day. His point was that the brain is governed by physical laws which determine sequences of physical events in the brain. Mental thoughts ride in tandem with such neural activity but it is the physics which does the work, therefore we are effectively automatons lacking Free Will. I know that sounds pretty bad, but we are saved by being extremely complex systems, and as such we behave in a way that we can say we are individuals with distinct characteristics and personalities. I think I'd have to agree with him in the end.

 

I suppose I would side with Determinism if pressed between the two but I've warmed up to the idea of Compatibilism. I think we can express free will to a certain capacity, nothing which violates the laws of physics but something more than glorified automatons.

The ability to abstract, project, reflect and introspect are qualities of the human mind which are dynamic and don't appear to be simple reactions to environmental cues.

 

Well they needn't be. They can be internal functions of the brain. But the brain is governed by physics, so that is not an argument against Determinism.

 

As per Hinduism, what one experiences at the present moment is the sum result of one's past karmas, positive, and negative both of which produces results, and this stems also from past lives.

To the extent one does good karmas to that extent one may be conscious, free from karmic fetters and aware of one's free will with enthusiasm.

And to the extent one does bad karmas to that extent one may be unconscious, bond by heavy karmic chains and moving in conditioned patterns perpetually like a robot.

The momentum of one's actions in past lives can also drive one in a certain unplanned direction in total contradiction to what one had desired for in youth in a conditioned environment .

Perhaps this is what John Lennon meant when he wrote, " Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans".

Here is an article by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on destiny and free will...


Is Life Predestined Or Do We Have Free Will?

 

Are you familiar with the idea of Strong Emergence? If so, what do you make of that?

 

No I haven't heard of that. Can you give me the gist of it?

 

Emergence is pheneomena or structure where complexity arises out of simpler processes that do not possess the qualities on their own. This is observed in ant colonies, weather phenomena, consciousness, etc.

Strong emergence, which is less well established, is the idea that emergent phenomena has a reciprocal top-down effect on the constiuent processes. The best example I've heard is computer programs where a higher level language (Java, C++) implements code that goes on through the hierarchy to change simpler low level machine instructions.

 

Ah okay thanks for the explanation. I think the trouble with that Strong Emergence view here is that mental events are in a different category to physical events, so how can mental events bridge over to influence physical events. That seems to be the issue.

 

The laws of physics have taken hundreds of years to develop, so physical ideas that challenge them become ever increasingly rare.
From the interaction with others standpoint, While I speak my mind, I am quite happy to be seen by others as the 'nutty professor', but I take a degree of care not to be seen as just nutty.

 

The idea of Free Will is not understood in the right way, but is most often interpreted as "our will is stronger / above your will".

The Universe is filled with an almost unlimited number of different types of consciousness, but the vast majority of these consciousnesses do not have the gift of Free Will, but act in accordance with their nature and purpose.

So, the gift of Free Will is rare in the Universe, and our species is given Free Will because without it - Free Will, we would not be able to reach a high level of development of consciousness and entry into Enlightenment.

All the negative actions that we commit (thanks to the gift of Free Will) towards others, we correct in the following incarnations in the way that it happening now to us, in the same way that we did to others in the previous life.

 

I go with the 'Free Will' camp.
Who you are is the sum total of every choice and decision you have made. This is your karma.
Who you will be is determined by the choices and decisions you make from this moment forward. This too is your karma. Choose wisely.

 

there is no absolute dichotomy between the two, every instant and every decision point is a random mixture of both.

piobaire is absolutely right about every bit as much of it as the universe and moment permit you to chose.
and not even gods get a fee pass from their karma,
because it doesn't depend on a judge or a judgment,
just completely automatic, autonomous, and built into the way the universe statistically works.
and its only because the causal function here is a statistical one, is the reason this isn't self evident and obvious.