Free Will in a Quantum Universe
Consciousness, Artificial Intelligence, and the Human Machine
Are we automatons enslaved to cause and effect, or do we make real choices during the course of our lives? For thousands of years, philosophers and theologians have pondered this matter. Predestination or free will? The Existentialist thinkers in early 20th century came down heavily in the latter camp. Jean Paul Sartre said:
Man is condemned to be free. Condemned, because he did not create himself, yet, in other respects is free; because, once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.
This is certainly not the case if we are only biochemical machines. Oh sure, the machine metaphor for complex living systems like ourselves has been used for hundreds of years just to make these complex systems somewhat comprehensible. But now it seems like it is no longer a metaphor.
The Human Machine
Many people, especially scientists, assume that we are machines. Some even think we will soon be able to build a machine with artificial intelligence that will mimic human thought.
This way of perceiving ourselves is due largely to reductive thinking, to the belief that human beings are merely the sum of their parts like everything else. In nature…
