Quora Freewill vs Predestination

[Gnomon]

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-most-awesome-paradox

06-15-2019
Reply to Richard Unwin :

“At the bottom of everything, the smallest particles that exist are ruled by chance. Nothing is predestined.”

Or, everything is *probably* predestined.

Genius Turner's post cleverly describes the ironic paradox of the human belief in FreeWill even as objective evidence seems to contradict that subjective feeling. Most of Christian doctrine is based on the assumption that despite God's omniscience, he arranged for humans to have an unforced either/or choice in their salvation. Thus, they salvage the notion of God's justice.

But Lutherans and Calvinists, argued the opposite : that the saints are predestined for heaven. Hence, the paradox, that nothing they can do will disqualify them from salvation. Therefore, God is “just” only for those he favored in his foresight. Everyone else is out of luck — and Hell-bound.

Apparently, the majority of intuitive people in the world feel free to make choices about their destiny, while a few rational philosophers, theologians, and scientists reason that both divine omniscience and secular cause & effect leave no gaps for humans to “want what they want”.

Nevertheless, like you, I have concluded that the inexorable power of physical Cause & Effect has an Achilles heel. And that weakness is the Randomness at the root of Quantum Physics. Classical Physics assumed that each cause was inevitably followed by a direct effect. Yet, Quantum Mechanics is not quite so mechanical, but essentially statistical. Hence, we can only predict the future state of a system to some degree of Probability, between 0 and 100%.*1

Likewise, empirical experiments (Libet 1985) have shown that the conscious mind has little control over behavior. Yet, they revealed a tiny gap, between an action potential and the actual action, for a veto over a plan-of-action predetermined by subconscious processes. So again, predestination can be thwarted by a free, un-forced, choice — based on “wants” rather than necessity. In that very narrow sense, the freewill agent is a wild-card Cause within the stacked deck of Determinism.*2

I summarize my personal hypothesis of FreeWill Within Determinism as follows : Freewill is the ability of self-conscious beings to choose preferred options from among those that destiny (or subconscious) presents. In the complex (non-linear) network of cause & effect, a node with self-awareness is a causal agent. With multiple Pre-determined inputs, and many Potential outputs, it can choose from a range of Possibilities, and create local novelty within a globally-deterministic system.

So, FreeWill (to fulfill personal wants & wishes) requires statistical Chance to provide options and detours from strict Determinism. Hence, morally responsible free-agency is compatible with divine creation, but not with predestination. It is compatible with statistical Quantum Indeterminacy, but not with the necessity of Quantum Mechanics. You might say that the “Laws” of Physics (and of Evolution) are interpreted according to the “Rules” of Randomness.

As far as we can tell, the statistical dice are not loaded. In that sense, life is fair, but it is not all about you. What counts is how much you bet on each roll of the dice.


*1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_indeterminacy
Prior to quantum physics, it was thought that
(a) a physical system had a determinate state which uniquely determined all the values of its measurable properties, and conversely
(b) the values of its measurable properties uniquely determined the state.

*2 The Freewill Agent doesn’t create the fork in the road, but he does choose one or the other branch —
sometimes, in view of a preferred destination, but often by a flip of a coin.

[Gnomon]

What do you think is the definition of free will?
https://www.quora.com/What-do-you-think ... -free-will

Here’s my reply to Richard Unwin under the heading of Paradox :
What is the most awesome paradox?

My personal definition of Freewill is on Post 87b of my blog.
Post 87a - Paradox of Freewill

Unwin replied to Turner’s denial of freewill :

“At the bottom of everything, the smallest particles that exist are ruled by chance. Nothing is predestined.”

According to Classical Physics and Modern Philosophy, human freewill is indeed paradoxical and impossible, hence a self-delusion. But in Quantum Physics, paradoxes (wave/particles) and probabilities (indeterminacy) abound. So who’s deluding who?

Note : my answer moved to : https://www.quora.com/What-does-free-will-mean