Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site oakhill.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!whuxl!whuxlm!akgua!sdcsvax!dcdwest!ittvax!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!ut-sally!oakhill!davet From: davet@oakhill.UUCP (Dave Trissel) Newsgroups: net.philosophy Subject: Re: Re: Redefining free will? Message-ID: <364@oakhill.UUCP> Date: Sun, 17-Mar-85 23:18:04 EST Article-I.D.: oakhill.364 Posted: Sun Mar 17 23:18:04 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 22-Mar-85 23:42:04 EST References: <627@pyuxd.UUCP> <159@frog.UUCP> <126@spar.UUCP> Reply-To: davet@oakhill.UUCP (Dave Trissel) Organization: Motorola Inc. Austin, Tx Lines: 45 Summary: In article <1247@aecom.UUCP> schwadro@aecom.UUCP (David Schwadron) writes: >> ....... Science, after all, is SUPPOSED to explain everything in terms >> of cause and effect. >> >> -michael > >Well, maybe free will is a product of the quantum uncertainty of >our neurons firing. Science does have provisions for randomness, >a lack of cause-effect structure. It's called quantum mechanics. There are some interesting parallels here to some ideas in parapsychology. That is that impressions of a PSI nature occur due to possible quantum level interactions with neurons in the brain. The more suface level "noise" so to speak is diminished the more the subtle normally subconcious information can be recognized at higher levels. To give a real example that happened to me: A week before Thanksgiving some years ago I was driving home from work when for no apparent reason I found myself thinking of someone I met frequently at a university computing center. Having presence of mind to realize that thoughts which do not follow from any previous thoughts often can be PSI related I made a mental note of this. The next day he called to tell me that his wife had suggested they invite someone over for Thanksgiving. When he told me this I boldly stated that he and his wife were probably discussing me at around 4:30 the previous day. The silence on the phone was more than enough to know I had hit right on the mark. These things happen to me enough to completely dismiss the thought of it being coincidence. If it was only a few times I would consider it so. Anyway back to quantum events and the brain. One theory goes that there are enough event firings going on in the neurons that in effect a lot of "random" noise is present and that PSI influences may come about due to interactions on the "random generator" portion of the brain. Interesting stuff this, if it turns out to have any basis in fact. >I have a side question: Must cause precede effect?? I have found some reasons to think that cause and effect are somehow actually intertwined in ways we can only now barely imagine. Wish I could tune in 50 or 100 years from now and see how our standard concepts of time and space have changed (if any.) Dave Trissel {ihnp4,seismo,gatech}!ut-sally!oakhill!davet