Nov 19, 2012

CEREBRART - FREE WILL

Is there no room for genuine free will?

 Ancient philosophers held many conflicting views about the nature of free will. Free will problem is actually a tricky problem, to which the solutions aren't clear - it matters how one defines "Free Will". Most people intuitively accept that free will exists. But because the human brain is composed of physical objects, and their behavior is governed by the laws of nature, some contemporary scientists maintain that free will is just an illusion and we are merely puppets.

 Brain sciences give us some opportunities to study the biological processes that surround free will and we have a growing number of experiments which state free will is an illusion and the very notion of free will is incoherent. Well, these experiments raise interesting questions about the concept of free will. However, there are lots of theoretical problems.

 There remain some sharp criticisms of recent experiments. Some data have no serious relevance to free will problems. Unfortunately, very few scientists have said exactly how these experimental data are supposed to undermine free will. Much more importantly - these experiments based on purely mechanistic models are very far away from our real lives and real decisions.

Therefore, I suggests that we ought to focus on real important actions and real important decisions that are grounded in our metadisciplinary extended integrated model of brain where Volition is
not the whole thing but merely a part of a chaotically connected dynamic networks of seven modules: Integration, Information, Motivation, Intention, Volition, Action and Reflection. This CEREBRART work will prompt readers to seek new serious arguments for discussing free will problem.

I believe there is enough room here for serious discussion.

5 comments:

  1. A 30-year-old classic experiment that is often used to argue against free will might have been misinterpreted.
    http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22144-brain-might-not-stand-in-the-way-of-free-will.html

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  2. The thesis at the heart of this discussion against free will is highly questionable - how you define the concept of free will?

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  3. I don't believe neither in a 100% nor in a 0% of free will

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  4. Please read this paper if you want to discuss free will problem seriously. Many real-world choices are made between MULTIPLE (three and more and not just two) options. Ventromedial Prefrontal and Anterior Cingulate Cortex Adopt Choice and Default Reference Frames during Sequential Multi-Alternative Choice - Erie D. Boorman - The Journal of Neuroscience, February 6, 2013 • 33(6):2242–2253

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