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Quantum Randomness Gives Nature Free Will
Whether or not quantum randomness explains how our brains work, it may help us create unbreakable encryption codesWhen I was boy, my father explained free will and predestination to me: I dig a fence post hole. · Did I create the hole because of my own free will? · Or was the hole already there and I simply removed the dirt? If true, the hole was predestined. The question cannot be answered by examining the evidence. In philosophy terms, it is “empirically unanswerable.” That is the sort of stuff that philosophers debate. Religious people might point to scripture to support one conclusion over the other.1 In physics, however, quantum randomness offers a definitive answer to the question of predestination vs. free will—for subatomic particles. In the world of classical physics (Isaac Newton’s physics), it can be argued Read More ›
Has Neuroscience Disproved Thinking?
A philosopher argues that Nobel Prize-winning research shows that the theory of mind is just another illusion, useful for survival and success
Robert J. Marks Talks Computers with Michael Medved
Computers can magnify what we do, he says, and that's the real threat
Can Plants Be as Smart as Animals?
Seeking to thrive and grow, plants communicate extensively, without a mind or a brainNone of the plants' extensive "social life" requires reason, emotion, value systems, mind, consciousness, or a sense of self. It requires only that the plant, like an animal, seek to continue its highly organized existence. But plants' ability to process information for that purpose gives pause for thought.
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Do Quasars Provide Evidence for Free Will?
Possibly. They certainly rule out experimenter interference.
Hamlet: Did his perplexing neurotransmitters cause the tragedy?
The neuroscientist working from a mechanical perspective would study the material and efficient causes of Hamlet’s act of revenge.
Guess what? You already own a self-driving car
Tech hype hits the stratosphere
Is Free Will a Dangerous Myth?
The denial of free will is a much more dangerous myth
Will AI lead to mass joblessness and social unrest?
A 2018 book by political scientist Virginia Eubanks, Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor argues that it will: “automated systems entrench social and economic inequality by design and undermine private and public welfare.”
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