Free will: what an undemocratic idea
To start, most people have differing definitions or inconsistent definitions of free will, so let start on the same foot and give a better (but not perfect) definition. Free will: decisions taken by the conscious part of the brain. (The "flaw" in the definition is I'm not sure how perfect the division of the unconscious and conscious mind is, but it's good enough for our purposes.) So free will would mean that decisions (or at least some of them) are done exclusively in the conscious part of the mind (here mind and brain are exact synomimes and if you don't know that this post is too far ahead).
Next, a few facts. Most of the brain's resources are devoted to the unconscious brain. The conscious brain is easily turned off without any harm to the person (sleep). So your consciousness is a subprocess of the unconscious brain. (Think about all the activities you perform unconsciously: driving, walking, eating etc. In fact in things like sports and driving you perform best when you are in the zone which is when you are doing them unconsciously).
So, if decisions reside in the conscious part of the brain you will be using less of your brain for that decision. More over, if you have free will and decisions are made in your conscious part of your brain the minority of neurons are having a say over the majority! The biggest, fastest and most complex part of your brain would be wasted.
That is a reasoned arguement. You may not like it, but it is still very likely true. If you dare, and don't hold free will in too high regard that you are willing to question it read about these new finding.
Next, a few facts. Most of the brain's resources are devoted to the unconscious brain. The conscious brain is easily turned off without any harm to the person (sleep). So your consciousness is a subprocess of the unconscious brain. (Think about all the activities you perform unconsciously: driving, walking, eating etc. In fact in things like sports and driving you perform best when you are in the zone which is when you are doing them unconsciously).
So, if decisions reside in the conscious part of the brain you will be using less of your brain for that decision. More over, if you have free will and decisions are made in your conscious part of your brain the minority of neurons are having a say over the majority! The biggest, fastest and most complex part of your brain would be wasted.
That is a reasoned arguement. You may not like it, but it is still very likely true. If you dare, and don't hold free will in too high regard that you are willing to question it read about these new finding.
Labels: Freethinking
posted by Eddie | 10:35 AM
1 Comments:
The absence of free will (with my definition) means the unconscious makes the decisions and the conscious part of the brain is simply informed of the choice (and maybe even tricked into thinking it made the call).
The test was essentially this experiment. If you made the decisions in your conscious brain (free will) then there would be virtually no time delay between the brain activity and the conscious noting of the time the decision was made. Since there was a 10 second delay before the subjects thought they made the choice it strongly suggests that the conscious part of the brain is merely informed of the decision and doesn't make it.
Put another way, this gives more credence to biodeterminism which basically states we (or our decisions) are a (complicated) algorithm. The question (as I say it) was whether the conscious is a byproduct of the unconscious brain or independent. If it was independent then we may be able to say we have free will in the sense that our conscious brain is making decisions that our unconscious brain would not necessarily make (it sounds odd once you say it like that).
Free will comes from the idea of a soul. The soul would be the driver of the car (the person being you and the car being your body where the mind/brain difference comes from). But without supernatural nonsense the mind=brain and thus free will must sit somewhere in the brain. Since we never "feel" like we are in control of our unconscious brain (by definition of the unconscious) free will must reside in the conscious part. This experiment indicates its not there and thus it is likely free will as a concept is pretty much refuted.
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