Imagine that you have two chemicals in a dish. You put them together and a reaction takes place. A simple chemical reaction. Given enough information about the temperature, the state of the reactants, and so on, one can predict the outcome of that reaction. Even if we don't have the knowledge to predict precisely its outcome, I think we can all agree that there is a physical process going on that obeys certain physical laws, and is at least theoretically predictable.
Now move that chemical reaction from the dish to your brain. Where axon meets dendrite, the same sorts of reactions are taking place. Each of these reactions follows physical law. Each of them depends on a stimulus to generate a defined response... Maybe somebody touches your shoulder, which stimulates the nerve endings there to send a signal to your brain, which goes through a series of chemical reactions which ultimately lead to you turning your head.
Every step of the way, every single process involved is subject to physical law. Which also means that every single process is subject to predictability. I'm not saying that we could predict it. I'm simply saying that it's not a choice. It's a reaction. The amoeba thinks it's choosing to move toward the light, but it's just a simple stimulus response. As is you turning your head, choosing coke, or responding to this post.
If a+b=c in a chemical reaction in a dish, a+b=c when that reaction occurs in your brain as well. "C" is not free will. It's the sum of a and b, and nothing more.
__________________
"If I cannot smoke cigars in heaven, I shall not go!"
- Mark Twain
|