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From: hua@cmu-cs-gandalf.ARPA (Ernest Hua)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Free will
Message-ID: <245@cmu-cs-gandalf.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 14-Mar-85 22:06:56 EST
Article-I.D.: cmu-cs-g.245
Posted: Thu Mar 14 22:06:56 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 17-Mar-85 00:23:57 EST
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI
Lines: 41

_________________________________________________________________

The idea of free will has been raised several times in this news-
group, so I will deal with it:

The concept of "free will", quite obviously, describes the abili-
ty  to determine action without any external influence.  This im-
plies, of course, that the determination is dependent solely upon
internal  influences.   This also implies that there is some cri-
terion, likely to be some boundary that allow the definitions  of
"internal"  and "external" to make sense.  Here is problem number
one:  Just what  is  this  criterion,  likely  a  boundary,  that
separates that which are internal and that which are external?  I
do not see any justification for selecting anything  for  such  a
boundary,  unless one gets into the idea of a "soul" or something
like it; if any of you should decide to go into this, please  de-
fine  what you want to discuss (ie. a soul).  The concept, in its
purest sense, can not exist in a strictly material  universe,  as
no  part of the human body is uninfluenced by other parts, not to
mention, the outside environment.

The concept, however, may be described in a probabilistic  sense,
using the same ideas as tossing dice.  When one tosses a die, the
significant characteristics that determine  the  outcome  are  so
numerous  that it is ridiculous to even begin to take all of them
into account.  Therefore, one can say that the outcome is strict-
ly random, because its prediction is near impossible.  If one can
take all of the conditions into account, then one can predict the
outcome.   Using the same idea, since we cannot take into account
everything that influences the operations of our brain and  body,
we  can  say that we "essentially" have free will, as our choices
"seem" to have no corrolation to natural factors/events.
_________________________________________________________________

"Free will is a state of mind." -- Keebler's First Law of
                                   Spiritual Enlightenment
    O   O
      o
    \___/

Keebler { hua@cmu-cs-gandalf.arpa }