There Is No Such Thing As Free Will

[Keith Maitland]

From the June issue of the Atlantic Monthly

Francis Galton launched a debate that raged throughout the 20th century over nature versus nurture. Are our actions the unfolding effect of our genetics? Or the outcome of what has been imprinted on us by the environment? Impressive evidence accumulated for the importance of each factor. Whether scientists supported one, the other, or a mix of both, they increasingly assumed that our deeds must be determined by something.

In recent decades, research on the inner workings of the brain has helped to resolve the nature-nurture debate—and has dealt a further blow to the idea of free will. Brain scanners have enabled us to peer inside a living person’s skull, revealing intricate networks of neurons and allowing scientists to reach broad agreement that these networks are shaped by both genes and environment. But there is also agreement in the scientific community that the firing of neurons determines not just some or most but ALL of our thoughts, hopes, memories, and dreams.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/theres-no-such-thing-as-free-will/480750/

[Sriram]

There are some issues here...

1. By 'free will' do we mean only the conscious mind?  If so, it is quite clear that the conscious mind does not decide things.

2. If there is no 'free will', does it automatically mean that some physical processes in the brain 'decide' what to think and how to behave? This is  nonsense. Random processes in the brain and elsewhere in the body cannot be deciding agencies for social behavior.

3. If it is neither the conscious mind nor mere physical processes that decide our lives....there must be some other mind (the Unconscious mind) that decides things. This has been identified and emphasized again and again by scientists.

In other words...there is no free will (the conscious mind is not the deciding agency)....but there is an Unconscious mind that decides things.  Obviously there will be neural activity in the brain during such deciding moments because the brain is the microprocessor (platform) on which mental activity take place. 

[torridon]

From the June issue of the Atlantic Monthly

Francis Galton launched a debate that raged throughout the 20th century over nature versus nurture. Are our actions the unfolding effect of our genetics? Or the outcome of what has been imprinted on us by the environment? Impressive evidence accumulated for the importance of each factor. Whether scientists supported one, the other, or a mix of both, they increasingly assumed that our deeds must be determined by something.

In recent decades, research on the inner workings of the brain has helped to resolve the nature-nurture debate—and has dealt a further blow to the idea of free will. Brain scanners have enabled us to peer inside a living person’s skull, revealing intricate networks of neurons and allowing scientists to reach broad agreement that these networks are shaped by both genes and environment. But there is also agreement in the scientific community that the firing of neurons determines not just some or most but ALL of our thoughts, hopes, memories, and dreams.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/theres-no-such-thing-as-free-will/480750/

Smilansky's concerns echo those aired by Freud about atheism last century - he felt that loss of belief in god would inevitably lead to the breakdown of human civilisation.  But in fact that has not been borne out by the evidence, in fact, the reverse seems to hold in that countries where theism is still strong - think Mexico, Brazil, crime rates are much higher than countries, think Scandinavia, where belief in god has already evaporated.  Maybe it will be the same with free will. I think the view that, apparently absolved of moral responsibility, humans will descend into depravity, is a naive view. Maybe, as with atheism, the opposite will happen - we will become more understanding and more compassionate by gaining a deeper understanding into our nature.  Traditional methods for moderating dysfunctional behaviours - systems of crime and punishment - these are very crude instruments of social engineering.  We can improve on that by gaining better insights into our nature that flow from research.

[Stranger]

Before deciding whether we have "free will" or not, it is rather important to define what we actually mean by the term.

It seems to be something that everybody understands unless you can persuade them to think about it. In may people's minds it seems to involve the logical contradiction of an action being both purposeful and not determined by anything. Something that isn't determined is random and that is hardly an expression of individual freedom. In short, the way many people think of free will is just magic, self-contradictory pixie dust.

More realistically, if an action is to be a free expression of who I am (my thoughts, emotions, desires, fears, intellect, experience and so on), then surely it must be determined by those things? If the mechanism for that is deterministic processes in the brain, then so what?

[torridon]

Spot on, that 

[ekim]

The way I read 'free will' when associated with some religious practices is that 'will' represents the intention to act or not act.  If that intention is driven by the past in the form of accumulated emotions, thoughts, inherited predispositions etc. or by the future in the form of projections, ambitions, fantasies etc. then it is not free, it is bound by the subconscious contents of the mind.  Freedom comes from remaining consciously still in the midst of those driving forces and confront events as they are presented in the moment with equanimity.  It is sometimes presented as surrendering self will to the Will of God or perhaps following the Tao.

[Udayana]

Surely the main point of the linked article is the "But we’re better off believing in it anyway".

It goes on to reference various studies that highlight negative effects on people influenced against belief in free will.

[torridon]

1. By 'free will' do we mean only the conscious mind?  If so, it is quite clear that the conscious mind does not decide things.

That's a bit simplistic.  Certain types of choices make use of the resources of conscious experience. Decisions in short time frame such as in sports make no use of consciousness as it is too slow and lags behind to be of use. However if you are considering a change of career or whether to propose marriage, then conscious mind provides a space and a mechanism for us to hold abstract ideas in mind over extended periods enabling a better quality of decision to be made eventually.  Having said that, you are right in that the moment of decision, when it comes, is made in subconscious mind.

2. If there is no 'free will', does it automatically mean that some physical processes in the brain 'decide' what to think and how to behave? This is  nonsense. Random processes in the brain and elsewhere in the body cannot be deciding agencies for social behavior.

There are no random processes in a brain.  Brains are finely honed to produce optimal outcomes, any random events would only degrade outcomes. A brain is something that produces optimal responses to internal and external change.

3. If it is neither the conscious mind nor mere physical processes that decide our lives....there must be some other mind (the Unconscious mind) that decides things. This has been identified and emphasized again and again by scientists.

Yes, unconscious mind looks after us.  We'd be dead in minutes if we had to think about everything.  Pretty much all our actions go on autopilot.

In other words...there is no free will (the conscious mind is not the deciding agency)....but there is an Unconscious mind that decides things.  Obviously there will be neural activity in the brain during such deciding moments because the brain is the microprocessor (platform) on which mental activity take place.

Comparisons with computers are always a bit dodgy btw.

[Gonnagle]

Dear Keith,

Thanks mate, a very interesting article, free will is an illusion, is it? it is in there, in our brains, can a Leopard truly change its shorts, anyway thank you, thinking about this mind/brain stuff can fry your mind brain stuff.

Gonnagle.