World Science Scholars

1.1 The Illusion of Free Will

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    • The letter about depression has no place in this discussion. The idea that people misbehave more if they think they have no free will doesn’t mean that free will exists. He is skewing the audience toward preferring that their is free will. Preferring to believe free exists does not mean free will exists. There is no canceling of an action brought about by alleged free will. The signal to do something is what you did.

    • So… he shouldn’t have chosen to discuss that letter? What self-defeating irony!

    • I enjoyed this perspective. I think that peoples free will is at a minimal when going through life “reacting” as your algorithms predict. The thing that separates us from AI is that we can “respond” to situations from a place of chance,a place of uncertainty, in turn changing our algorithms and our predictive behavior. Free will is is not always in our actions but also in our thoughts.

    • I feel compelled to reply to this…

    • Good point of view …. the problem of all the inferences that we can make in relation to the scientific studies carried out lies in a simple question: from the moment when someone is asked to perform (or not) a certain action (in the study) we have already created in the conscious state a determination… However, the search for neuroscience in trying to measure, evaluate, find conscience is not at all wrong; that must be done. … Regarding to free will … well … we have all observed the power of communication, TV, cults, gangs and ….

    • Thanks to Prof. Alfred Mele for this course.

      Free will vs. Determinism…. Those thinking they are trapped are more inclined to dishonesty.

      Experiments in split second decisions both to veto and to move on. Inner styles and… This all reminds me of a study on how soccer outcomes can be predicted upon country political style. Communists don`t finish well.

    • YES

    • Very interesting. However, I wish Benjamin Libet’s experiment was devoid of subjectivity. 200, 550 etc milliseconds are very tiny spans of time and there is a possibility of the subject not being able to determine the exact time s/he became aware of the decison, urge or intention. However, enjoyed the talk and thank you.

    • Very interesting. However, I wish Benjamin Libet’s experiment was devoid of subjectivity. 200, 550 etc milliseconds are very tiny spans of time and there is a possibility of the subject not being able to determine the exact time s/he became aware of the decison, urge or intention. However, enjoyed the talk and thank you.

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    • Can I get certificate

    • In some religions coming you have the free will, but if you choose to exercise it, you’re forever doomed if it goes against the grain of the source that disagrees with it. I think gone literally bald from scratching my head so much on this one.

    • In some religions, you have the option of free will, but if you choose to exercise it, and if it goes against the grain of the source that disagrees with it, you’ are eternally damned. I think I’ve literally gone bald from scratching my head so much on this one.

    • In some religions, you have the option of free will, but if you choose to exercise it, and if it goes against the grain of the source that disagrees with it, you’ are eternally damned. I think I’ve literally gone bald from scratching my head so much on this one.

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