mrh@cybvax0.UUCP (Mike Huybensz) (10/11/84)
Perhaps I missed the beginning of the debate on whether free will exists,
but I have yet to see an adequate description of what free will would be
if it does exist.
I'd think that the definition would have to be non-trivial and theoretically
testable. It should distinguish between what I call the appearance of free
will ("because the decision making is too complicated a process for us to
predict the result, free will might exist") and some real sort of free will
("because free will exists, even with omniscience we wouldnt be able to make
100% reliable predictions of the decision-making process").
I think most of us would grant the appearance of free will as described above.
But what would real free will be?
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Mike Huybensz ...mit-eddie!cybvax0!mrhptc@cybvax0.UUCP (Peter Crames) (10/12/84)
> Perhaps I missed the beginning of the debate on whether free will exists, > but I have yet to see an adequate description of what free will would be > if it does exist. > > Mike Huybensz ...mit-eddie!cybvax0!mrh In order to have free will, an object must have the ability to cause itself to move. Motion happens, but nothing in our universe has the ability to CAUSE its own motion. Thinking can be viewed as motion occurring in the brain. If the brain can not cause itself to move, then it can not cause its own thoughts, and hence does not have free will. If our brains do not cause their own thoughts, then what does cause our thoughts? God causes our thoughts (and all other motion), as a result of God's First Cause, also known as the Big Bang. God can be viewed as the external (or free) will which causes our thoughts and actions. We do not have a will separate from God's will. Since God causes our thoughts, all occurrences of the words "God" and "God's" in this message can be replaced by the words "I" or "My". The words "we" and "our" can be replaced by the words "you" or "your". For example, in the sentence "God causes our thoughts and actions", the word "God" can be replaced by "I", and the word "our" can be replaced by "your". "Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalms 46:10)