Ammonite
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Chaos Theory and Free Will
I go through theses cycles where I can't sleep. It's sort of a new thing for me and one that I find pretty annoying. But anyway, last night while I was laying in bed, half awake I got to thinking about free will again. Remember how Stephen Hawking likened our brains to weather? And remember when I was learning about chaos theory and how weather was used by Ed Lorenze as an example of a chaos, and how when graphed it plotted onto that funny butterfly shaped strange attractor? Well, I got to wondering if there was some way to quantify free will? And if that was possible, then would we see that it plots, just like weather does, onto an attractor? And how would that change our views on life? Or would it?
I guess you, like my BF, may be wondering what's the point of all of these questions. Like he said, if it doen't keep him young or make him rich, why bother? But I think it would be a pretty big deal if it could be proved that free will isn't "free". If it obeys the same rules and behaves exactly how other known chaotic systems work and behave, and can be predicted using chaos theory then I'd argue that it's not as free as we all think. If free will can be demonstrated (mathematically and experimentally) to function in essentially the same way as every other complex system, then I think that would be of great interest to us all....more philosophically than practically probably. After all, we can only understand our lives through our own personal understanding. We can only know our minds using our minds. So it practice whether or not there is actually free will is almost...irrelevant. (That's good news to me, since just like everyone else I like feeling like I have choices;)) And I don't think I'd feel any different about what we call our "free will" in a practical sense if it turned out not to be as "free" as I think. I mean, I'd still feel like I am doing whatever I want so beyond that why would I really care?
But in a philosophical sense, I think it would really be quite profound...and to me personally it would be...comforting I think. I mean, I already know my body is a machine and I think that's pretty sweet, but to understand my choices as an "system" that obeys the laws of nature and exists in accordance with everything else I understand about the universe (instead of something unexplained and seperate) would be kind of a cool....I think. To see my lifetime of choices plot neatly onto one of chaos theory's "strange attractors" would be pretty spectacular...I think. If it turns out to be the truth I suppose I'll have to accept it no matter how I feel about it. But it's fun to ponder. I''m curious to know what other people might think about this.
Any thoughts? How would you feel if free will turned out not to be as free as you thought?
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I personally am very ok with this whole idea. I think it is really the only system that makes sense if you come from a atheistic/naturalistic/biological perspective. We are creatures of this world, not apart from it, and it seems logical that we would function in much the same way everything else does. As for how I feel about it, I also think it is pretty cool, and also...ironically enough...liberating. My mind has always had a tendency to run away from me, and especially in trying times, I have felt my thoughts and emotions were just a whirlwind that I was controlled by, rather than controlling. I used to think that was a weakness on my part, that I should be able to control my brain more, but now I just try to accept that as a very natural part of the human condition. I am not always going to be able to control my thoughts and feelings but that is ok. That is not to say that I am giving up the fight completely, but just giving myself a little more of a break. Where I maybe disagree with you a little is that practicality of this discovery. I think it would have a very profound impact on the way we live. granted at first it would be just a philosophical change, but once it took root in our society, it would affect everything from our penal system to our thoughts on religion, social issues like racism and homophobia. I think that if we came to really accept this idea into our culture, it would be one of the most revolutionary ideas since evolution...I think.
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