The science of free will
From the Daily Princetonian:

Two Princeton mathematicians have cast new light on the question of whether the behavior of particles in the universe is predetermined. In research that is not yet finalized, they have also posited an unexpected link between the answer to this question and a centuries-old debate over human free will. ...

"[The theorem] may cause people to rethink some things that they've basically known all along," said Philip Anderson, a University physics professor and 1977 Nobel Laureate in physics. "It may cause me to rethink some things that I've basically known all along." ...

If Conway's and Kochen's research proves valid, it may permanently alter the study of quantum mechanics, Anderson said.

The article is not a model of clarity, but basically seems to say that the theorem posits that there is a level of indeterminancy inherent in the actions of particles. If particles are not entirely predetermined in their events, then anything made of particles - which is to say everything in the universe - is not predetermined, either.

None of this is surprising to people familiar with process theology, though. Process thought, begun about 80 years ago with the work of philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, emphasizes the developmental nature of reality rather than its static composition. Hence, process understands that the fundamental reality of the universe is the experiential event. This point distinguishes process cosmology from scientific materialism. Scientific materialism holds that the fundamental units of reality are material substance. Not so, says process thought. The building blocks of the Real are dynamic events.

Process thoughts says that in an event, down to the particle level, past influences are organized according to a self-determined response of the event itself. That is, novelty in inherent in every dynamic event, and since dynamic events are the fundamental building blocks of reality itself, the possibility of novelty is always present.

Process theology holds that all possibilities for outcomes are presented by God. The best possible outcome for each event is God’s "initial aim" for the event, which can be thought of as God’s will. Each event is an embodiment of God’s creative power in that it conforms in a higher or lower degree to God's initial aim (will). As each event occurs it becomes a creative influence upon yet-to-come events.

God is seen as the "supreme, all-inclusive embodiment of creative power" (David Griffin) God thus influences all creation and is influenced by it in turn. Because there is nothing and no one else to whom this conceptualization applies, this description of deity conforms to Anselm's definition of God as "something than which a greater is inconceivable."

by Donald Sensing, 12/5/2004 02:36:27 PM. Permalink |