Bubblesofearth wrote:I would submit that the term 'prior cause' is about as far away from self-explanatory as it is possible to get. Caused by what? Another person? Force? Reason? Any input, even random?
A cause would be anything that influenced the decision. A prior cause would be a cause that existed before the decision was made (otherwise it wouldn't be "prior"). Maybe "deterministic factor" would be a better term.
A random event may be a cause but it would not be a prior cause, so the Merriam-Webster definition is not perfect. Maybe it should be, "freedom of humans (or other sentient beings) to make choices that are not entirely determined by prior causes, random events or by divine intervention".
Bubblesofearth wrote:So, given the deterministic parts equate does this mean you are saying that random inputs are equivalent to free choice? I'm kind of reminded of the Diceman here. Or do you mean something else?
I used the polariser example to demonstrate that things can have both deterministic and non-deterministic factors, that is all; I did not intend to imply that true randomness and free choice are the same thing. I thought that there was a risk that, if I simply suggested that decisions could be partly deterministic and partly free will without providing some sort of explanation or analogy, it would be met with resistance. If you find the analogy confusing, please ignore it.
vrdiver wrote:I can see no requirement for "free will", nor any mechanism to host it.
I can see no point to our lives if free will does not exist.
I can see no mechanism to host quarks and leptons (or the bits of string or whatever they are made of). I see no requirement for them either (Why is the physical world here? and how did it get here?);
I can see no mechanism to host consciousness.
I do, however, believe that these exist.
ursaminortaur wrote:The idea that the photon has hidden variables which would hold its exact position and momentum has been pretty comprehensively destroyed by the many tests of the Bell inequality.
Where's the rec button?
Julian F. G. W.