Do you have free will?
Can you make your own decisions?
Or are you more like an automaton, just moving as required by your constituent parts?
Probably, like most people, you feel you have something called free will.
Your decisions are not predetermined; you could do otherwise.
Fundamentally, then in terms of atoms and molecules we can predict the future for any given starting point.
This seems to leave no room for free will, alternative actions, or decisions.
You have every right to be.
This has been one of the long outstandingunresolved problemsin philosophy.
It is this that has fascinated me.
My research interests include the foundations of quantum theory.
So could free will be thought of as a macroscopic quantum phenomenon?
I set out to explore the question.
Quantum free will
There is enough philosophy literature on the subject to fill a small library.
As a trained scientist I approached the problem by asking: what is the evidence?
Sadly, in some ways,my researchshowed no link between free will and fundamental physics.
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Imagine you are on stage, facing two envelopes.
You are told that one has 100 inside and the other is empty.
This is just one of a wide variety of examples that question our awareness of our own decision-making processes.
And our own introspection is unreliable as evidence of how our mental processes function.
So, what is the evidence for the abstract concept of free will?
How could we test for it?
How could we recognize it?
But we do have an experience of free will, and this experience is a fact.
But how would you do this?
Could I mimic it with a computer program?
If I were successful how would my computer or robot be tested?
The topic is fuelled by prejudice.
You would probably assume without evidence that my brother has free will, but my computer does not.
Strangely, the philosophical literature does not seem to consider tests for free will.
But as a scientist, it was essential to have a test for my model.
You will do so predictably almost 100% of the time.
But you have free will, you could do otherwise.
you’re able to prove it by responding to a challenge or even challenging yourself.
Given a challenge you may well write with your left hand.
That is a highly discerning test of free will.
I would take that as evidence of free will.
After all, no robot would be programmed to do that.
A computer with free will?
These programs are commonly used across disciplines from sociology, economics, and AI.
For free will, we add one more goal: to assert independence.
The computer program is then designed to satisfy this goal or desire by responding to challenges to do otherwise.
Its as simple as that.
Test it out yourself, the challenges can be external or you’re able to generate your own.
After all, isnt that how you conclude that you have free will?
In principle, the program can be implemented in todays computers.
But this is well within reach of current technology.
That said, Im not sure that I want my own personal computer exercising free will, though.
