> And what do you mean by free will? It does not really exist.
Here we are back to this free will discussion. In a matter of fact, I like this
discussion, but I believe that it goes beyond the limits of science, penetrating
the fields of religion and faith. The question is ... are our actions only fruit
of
our present/past experiences and inborn genetic program (without mentioning the
complicatedness of such function), or there is a plus - "free will", in order to
explain our actions ? There are two different answers, depending on a subtle
religious claim.
1) If we consider that the behavior of a system (we, as systems) is due to
ONLY the properties of matter that constitutes the system, then we would
say that free will can not exist.
2) If we consider that there is such thing as a "soul", or "spirit", that goes
beyond matter (without either explaining what it would be then), then we
are able to admit that there should be this free will, and the source of this
free will would be exactly from this soul, or spirit. The source of free will
is on this extra-matter component of the system.
As science can only deal with things that are measurable, can only deal with
MATTER, then this question of "free will" certainly goes beyond science.
Depending on our "religious position", the answers will be quite different.
So, the discussion of things like "free will", "consciousness" and alike,
are actually religious discussions, that never leads us to a conclusion.
UNLESS we accept the challenge of discussing religion. We will be
touching with personal convictions and personal experiences, that
sometimes can not be shared without skepticism.
My suggestion is that we avoid using strong propositions like that "there is
free will" - "there isn't free will", because they are only an indication of our
religious position. Better is to admit that both claims are true, and work
with them in parallel. The one which leads to better fruits will prove to be
the correct one. But this, only the future can say.
Best regards,
Ricardo
--
//\\\
(o o)
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-oOO--(_)--OOo-=-=-+
\ Prof. Ricardo Ribeiro Gudwin /
/ Intelligent Systems Development Group \
\ DCA - FEEC - UNICAMP | INTERNET /
/ Caixa Postal 6101 | gudwin@dca.fee.unicamp.br \
\ 13081-970 Campinas, SP | gudwin@fee.unicamp.br /
/ BRAZIL | gudwin@correionet.com.br \
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+
\ URL: http://www.dca.fee.unicamp.br/~gudwin/ /
/ Telephones: +55 (19) 788-3819 DCA/Unicamp (University) \
\ +55 (19) 254-0184 Residencia (Home) /
/ FAX: +55 (19) 289-1395 \
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+