Do we have 'free will'?

2023年06月21日

われわれに自由意志は存在するのか？　熟考した末の意識的な決断は、自由意志の表れではないのか？　長年にわたって繰り広げられてきた思索と研究の末、いま興味深い研究結果が発表された。 (English) Do we have free will? Isn't a deliberate, conscious decision expressing "free will"? After years of thought and research, some interesting research has been published.

Do we have free will?

//Summary - Level-C2//

The text explores the concept of free will, tracing its evolution from Descartes' assertion of human autonomy to the deterministic view influenced by Newtonian mechanics, which suggests all future states are predetermined. This deterministic view was later challenged by quantum mechanics, which posits that the future is not predetermined but random. However, randomness does not equate to free will. Neuroscience further complicates the issue, suggesting our minds, like machines, operate on electrical signals and chemicals, casting doubt on free will. Experiments by Benjamin Libet indicated that our conscious decisions might be post-hoc rationalisations of unconscious brain activity. Despite these challenges, the question of free will remains unresolved, with the nature of consciousness itself still largely unknown.

//Summary - Level-B2//

The text discusses the concept of free will, from the belief that humans have free will to the scientific and philosophical debates challenging this idea. It mentions Descartes' philosophy, Newtonian mechanics, and determinism, which suggests everything is predetermined. Quantum mechanics then challenge this view, meaning the future is random, not predetermined. However, randomness doesn't equate to free will. Neuroscience suggests our minds operate like machines, casting doubt on free will. Experiments by Benjamin Libet indicated that our conscious decisions might be post-hoc rationalisations of unconscious brain activity. Despite these challenges, the question of free will remains unresolved, with the nature of consciousness itself still largely unknown.

//Summary - Level-A2//

The text discusses the idea of free will, or the ability to make our own choices. It outlines how philosophers like Descartes believed in free will, but scientific theories like Newtonian mechanics and determinism suggest everything is already decided. Quantum mechanics challenges this, saying the future is random, not fixed. However, randomness doesn't mean we have free will. Neuroscience suggests our minds work like machines, and experiments show our brain makes decisions before we know them. Despite these challenges, the question of free will and the nature of consciousness remains unresolved.

One day I was thirsty and went to the company shop to buy a drink. I chose a drink and bought it.

I continued to work for a while, and then night fell. On my way home, I went to a bookshop, chose a book and bought it.

Every day people make different choices. People freely think about other things daily, make choices and decide on their actions.

However, this obvious fact that "people think and act freely according to their own will" has long been the subject of great debate in science and philosophy.

This is called the "free will problem". The fact that "people think and decide their actions freely" is called "human beings have free will". But is this questionable?

Obviously, "human beings have free will", so why are we discussing it? You might think.

Of course, everyone thinks and acts according to their own will.

But many theories in science and philosophy deny this obvious fact. The prevailing view today is that there is no free will. Why is the academic approach so different from people's realisation?

I think, therefore, I am

In the past, it was taken for granted that human beings had free will.

In the 17th century, a famous philosopher, Rene Descartes, was considered the father of modern philosophy.

Descartes said that "human beings have free will and think" is the most absolute thing in the world.

Even if everything in this world is a dream or an illusion, it is sure that "I think with my own free will". And it is equally sure that the 'thinking self' exists. He expressed this in the famous words:

"I think, therefore I am".

The world widely accepted this idea, greatly influencing subsequent philosophy and various studies.

But with time, this obvious fact has become questionable.

Determinism - Has the Future Already Been Decided?

The 19th century saw the rapid development of modern science. Its foundation was "Newtonian mechanics", created by the genius physicist Isaac Newton.

"Newtonian mechanics" was too perfect. I could theoretically explain the motion of all the objects in the world, the apples, the stones, the moon, the sun, the things on the earth and the heavenly bodies in the sky. Using Newtonian mechanics, if we know in detail the current state of an object, we can perfectly predict its future state.

For example, let's say you drop a ball from a building. You can predict almost perfectly when and how fast the ball will hit the ground, even before it hits it.

Complex motion can be challenging to predict perfectly. However, in principle, using Newtonian mechanics, we can say that if we know the present state of an object perfectly, we can also understand its future state perfectly.

In other words, if the present state of an object is known, its future state is already known. Thinking further, we can say that.

Everything in the world is made up of physical objects. The future of the thing is already determined. In other words, everything in the world is decided from the beginning. What happens next is all predetermined.

This idea is called "determinism". According to determinism, everything in the world is predetermined. It is the same with people because they comprise a collection of physical objects. The future of the world and the future of human beings are all decided, and there is no room for human "free will". "Free will" does not exist. Human beings cannot freely change the future with their own choice.

This idea has spread throughout the world of science and philosophy. As a symbolic existence of this "determinism", a fictitious fact called "Laplace's demon" was considered.

"Laplace's demon" has supernatural power and can know the state of all objects in the world. And from this state, everything in the future can be calculated and predicted. Therefore, Laplace's demon knows everything that will happen in the world from now on.

Laplace's demon is a symbolic existence of determinism, has been a topic of discussion in science and philosophy, and has become known worldwide.

Counterattack against "Laplace's demon."

In the 20th century, however, Laplace's demon came under attack from an unexpected source. Physics itself created Laplace's demon, which counterattacked Laplace's demon. A study called "quantum mechanics" emerged in the early 20th century. This discipline deals with microscopic objects like tiny atoms and electrons. It is not a sizeable macroscopic object like a visible ball that Newtonian mechanics imagines.

According to "quantum mechanics", the motion of microscopic objects is entirely different from that of macroscopic objects. In the case of a visible thing, for example, if an object is dropped from the top of a building, it is possible to predict perfectly how fast it will go in a few seconds and where it will go before it is dropped. Future states can be expected.

But this is not the case with microscopic objects. Even if we know the current state of a tiny thing, such as an electron, we cannot predict how it will move or where it will go.

No, unpredictable isn't the right word. It is more accurate to say that it is undecided. When I say unpredictable, it sounds like it's decided, but it's technically challenging to predict, but that's not the case. It's not surprising; it's undetermined. It's not that it's technically unpredictable; it's that the future state is fundamentally inconsistent.

For example, let's say we've done a series of experiments where we've shot electrons out of an experimental device and watched their movements. Even if you shoot electrons under precisely the same conditions, they will move differently and go to different places each time. Even if the experiment is carried out under the same conditions, it is impossible to determine how the electrons move within a specific range. I can't decide in advance what to do.

Microscopic objects have such strange properties.

You will not be convinced if you hear this story for the first time. No wonder. Even modern science doesn't understand why it has such strange properties. The only sure thing is that it has such a peculiar quality.

In other words, even if it is "Laplace's demon", the future of microscopic objects can never be predicted. In other words, the future is not predetermined. This is proven by "quantum mechanics".

Laplace's demon has disappeared, and "determinism" has been overthrown. The future was uncertain. Therefore, people could change the end of their own free will.

10)

Is free will an illusion?

But it wasn't that simple. Another frightening idea came to me:

Laplace's demon has indeed disappeared. But quantum mechanics only says that the future is not predetermined. It only says that the lot is random.

Just because it's random doesn't mean people can control it by their free will. Chance is not the same as freedom. What happens in the future is random and unpredictable, which does not mean it can be influenced by human free consciousness.

11)

In the 20th century, neuroscience developed. It is thought that more than 100 billion cells are called neurons in the human brain. When the brain is active, neurons release chemicals that cause electrical signals to flow between them.

It is now believed that the human mind comprises chemicals and electrical signals.

Taking a drug to change the amount of that chemical can make a big difference to a person's mind. People who are deeply troubled and distressed can suddenly forget their troubles and become revitalised by taking a drug that changes the number of chemicals in their brains.

12)

The human mind comprises chemicals and electrical signals, just like a machine. Is there no such thing as free will? It is a mistake to think that we have free will and that the mind is like a machine that works automatically with chemicals and electrical signals.

This idea spread again in the world of science and philosophy.

In the 1980s, shocking experimental results were published that confirmed this idea.

An experiment by a neurophysiologist called Benjamin Libet. What kind of experiment?

13)

First, participants in the experiment are fitted with a device that measures electrical signals in the brain. They were then asked to move their wrists, and the electrical signals in their brains were measured. It was known that when the human body moves, an electrical password is sent from the brain as a command to move the muscles just before the actual movement.

Common sense would have expected the events to occur in the following order:

(A) Awareness of the movement of the wrist

(B) The brain sends electrical signals to move the wrist

14)

After consciously trying to move the wrist, the brain sends an electrical signal and the wrist moves. Of course, something like this was expected.

But the result of the experiment was something unexpected. It turned out to be something like this:

(A) The brain sends out electrical signals to move the wrist.

(B) You consciously try to move your wrist.

That's the sequence. Before I was conscious of moving my wrist, my brain was sending electrical signals to move my wrist. What does this mean?

It means the wrist's movement was decided before the person was conscious of moving it. It implies the wrist did not move because I was aware of driving it.

15)

This result shocked the world.

We learned from this experiment's results that the sensation that people usually feel, that the wrist moved because they wanted to move it voluntarily, was an illusion. Before that intention, it was decided that the wrist would move by something unconscious, and the command was already coming out of the brain. In the middle of moving the wrist, the consciousness thinks, "Let's move". Consciousness does not decide to move. Something automatic and unconscious had already agreed that the wrist would move.

16)

As a result of this contradictory result, human free will was increasingly endangered.

Do you have no free will? Are humans driven by unconscious, unintended brain mechanisms preventing them from deciding their actions?

However, Benjamin Libet, the author of this decisive experiment, unexpectedly said, "Humans have free will. (But Only for 0.2 Seconds)" It describes it like this:

(A) The brain emits electrical signals to move the wrist

(B) Consciously try to move your wrist

17)

Between (B) and (C), there is a short period of refusal to move the wrist. Within this time, a human being can stop his actions at will. Therefore, human beings have free will.

Surprisingly, the person who conducted this experiment believed in free will and didn't want to deny it.

18)

What is consciousness anyway?

Perhaps there is no more significant discrepancy between what people usually feel and academic theories than on free will. As research progresses, we seem to be heading toward "no free will".

However, the researchers who do such research usually realise they can decide their actions based on their own will. Researchers became researchers of their own free will, studied human consciousness of their own free will, and came to the conclusion of their own free will that "there is no free will".

19)

What is this "consciousness" of human beings that feels free to make daily decisions?

Researchers believe that electrical signals in neurons in the brain create human consciousness. But how do electrical signals in neurons create subjective human consciousness? How do electrical signals in neurons make people think about different things? The mechanism is scientifically unknown.

Many researchers are trying to unravel it. But this research is complicated, and it still doesn't seem to be clear at all.

20)

Will there ever be a clear conclusion to this issue? "Will there ever be an explanation that everyone agrees with? "As science advances, will the time come when we can understand everything?"

There may be something deeper and more fundamental behind this issue than the simple question of whether or not there is free will.

I believe that this issue will continue to progress towards an end that no one can foresee, that will overturn the way modern people think about the mind.

//Postscript//

The theory of Buddhism was not only to heal the sad hearts of believers.

The grief will increase if a close family member dies and goes to a distant place in Heaven or Hell.

But if, after death, before birth, there was nothing.

We were always nothing.

Therefore, dead people and living people exist in the same world.

We live by borrowing human bodies from Buddha.

When you die, you return that shape to the Buddha.

If you think so, the grieving family will be healed.

However, this idea is being proved by the science of quantum mechanics.

That was the exciting point of the article.