Free will and physics
It’s a follow-up of this Sabine Hossenfelder video about free will.
The idea she express it that there is no free-will.
The universe is deterministic, therefore, everything is already decided.
She does mention quantum randomness.
But she also say that you need to admit free-will for the atoms, then.
Defining free will
Here, the term is badly defined.
It’s a very abstract concept.
Wikipedia is saying “Free will is the capacity or ability to choose between different possible courses of action.”.
The sentence lack to define whom and how the decision are made.
I don’t think you will find a good logical definition though.
The concept should be inherently physical.
Conciousness does not manage the cells
It seem obvious that consciousness does not manage the cells.
If you remove each cells, then, there is no more free will, nor conciousness, right.
So it’s an emergent phenomena of the cells, here, most likely the neurons, and some other cells.
Also, it definitevely does not decide the atom states.
It seem likely that consciouness, and therefore free will, is a feedback loop mechanism.
Some neurons alter the consciousness process, altering other neurons states.
Modifying the behaviour and consciousness state.
Physics
Wether or not the universe is deterministic or not, seem little relevent.
Either it is, but you do not control the atoms, or it’s not, and the effect is quantum.
Also, there are theories that state that all time and space happens at the “same time” in a higher dimension.
Which contradict quantum theory.
But it’s still more or less the mainstream wide space physic theory.
If everything has already happened, there is definitevely no free will.
Concisciousness
I think it’s an illusion.
It has to be.
It’s not my first article about it.
You can be in an altered state of consciousness.
All of the process can be different from what you usually experience, like in a dream.
You still have a feeling of self and can form memories.
Because, it’s all made up of natural processes.
That you dont control.
Natural selection
All of the atom’s state reasons and causes lies in the past.
If there is a consciousness and free will illusion, it’s because it was selected.
Not because it is the “most fit” but because it is the most likely.
I mean, nothing else exist, so, what does not exist is very unlikely.
And there are the multiverses theories, where everything as branched-up, and everything exist.
Anyway, if your universe does not allow for consciousness, and there will not be any.
If it does, it might.
And if you are conscious, it must.
Justice
The concept is strongely related to morals and ethics, therefore, to justice.
Either you have a good feedback loop, and you listen to arguments which are deemed “good” by others, or you don’t.
Either way, you are probably not responsible.
The responsibility lies in the atom’s state.
Even the most hatefull peace of shit is still made of atoms.
A good process, and a good social process, just make sure that they are not causing problems.
But they are, most leaders are massive psychopaths.
Nothing matter
You might reach the conclusion that nothing matters.
And find it offensive.
It seem very nihilistic.
Actually, nothing matter, the universe will end, and all of humanity will be forgotten long before that.
Under hedonistic theories, only your life matter.
For you life to be good, you need others, though.
Meaning, only your life being alive matters.
Emergence
Can something not determined by it’s lower level components emerge ?
I think, here, not determined and not explained are different concepts.
Seem dubious that you could have something of higher level entirely unrelated to the lower level.
You can observe higher level things that can only emerge when there is a group, though.
Any group concept needs multiple entities.
Friendship needs multiple human entities, for instance.
And an observer, to call it that.
Solving the universe
What seem to be emerging, here, is that we can be modelized by mathematical equations.
And the phenomena is solving a problem.
Or that you can model it this way.
What I’m saying is just a projection though.
It is and it is not.
You live, and that’s about it.
But, you can project is as “solving life” or some other thing.
We want meaning.
There is probably none.
But finding meaning was a good process, still is.
It’s how we thought.
It’s how we are thinking, now.
Good stuff, it allow us to propagate.
So, we are more numerous.
Now.
Does not mean much in the long run anyway.
We are programmed to look for meaning.
So we do.
Ain’t much there though.
We’re just there.
Conclusion
Consciousness and free will are probably illusions.
Does not mean that nothing matter, even though, in the long term, nothing will matter, most likely.
If you want to have a good life, you should have a good process.
Even though, you are not in control of this, probably not.
More on justice
If there is a murderer, and you don’t want to die, and you don’t it’s targets, you might want to render him non-threatening.
Otherwise, you might die.
Maybe there are universes where you did not do this, maybe there is not many people in these ones.
If you know it’s target, you might not want to do anything, examples:
cop murderers
racist murderers
common interest murderers
Anyway, it’s just the process’s results.