Free Will On My Mind

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Usually when thinking about free will my thoughts run in circles. However the recent talks by Sean Carroll were some of the clearest exposition on the topic. In summary we have different levels of description. Footballs for example are not in the fundamental laws of physics but that doesn't make footballs any less real - they are an emergent phenomenon. It also doesn't make the word football any less useful in describing the world at the level of human interactions. The problem occurs when you try to mix levels of description.

The key idea with free will, as described by Sean Carroll, is that we live in a world where uncertainty dominates. As a result, the fact that the universe is deterministic is irrelevant when describing human behavior - we simply don't have daily, practical access to that determinism. Free will, then, is a useful construct when discussing agency just as footballs are a useful concept when describing Sunday behavior.

And by the way, go Pats!