It call comes down on the issue of realism and idealism, in a way. In realism/positivism you agree that there are set and solid laws that run the whole show and that they can be determined. In idelism/anti-positivism/neo-humanism you do not believe in such solid and unchangeable laws.
Now, as for predicting someone's actions by the states of their neurochemical states, you forget one important thing, the context. The neurochemical actions only ready or trigger you, but the actual actions or the outcome is always largely affected by your surroundings and the people around you. And, atleast with our current capabilities and understanding, it is impossible to calculate a framework of every single action taken in the world at a given timescale to predict one man's actions. And applying chaos theory into the equation, it becomes nearly impossible with even unlimited calculating power. Even with the most sophisticated quantum computers, you could only calculate a set of possibilities.
|