Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia;  Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.

“This provocative book explores the profound psycho-logical, moral, and spiritual implications that follow from this one simple (yes or no) question, weaving the most intriguing perplexities of neuroscience and modern physics into the three paramount (life and death) concerns of every thoughtful human being: The existence of God, the prospect of immortality, and finding meaning in our present lives. . . . it bravely confronts the inescapable corollary question: Do we have free will?”
https://www.abebooks.com

  Post 122.  January 29, 2022 continued . . .

  Unscripted Free Will

  Afterthoughts and End Notes 6

 These are some marginal notes to Self while reading the book by Peter Carter. They are my own thoughts regarding topics he mentions in his text.

• Holistic Causation :
“I’ve deduced myself into a grim conclusion”

The author seems to have missed one long-ignored aspect of Causation. He seems to look at only specific causes, linked together into a chain without a beginning. But his view omits the whole system of multi-directional causes that somehow bind instances (events) into a general force, similar to gravity, and pulls individual causes together in a single evolutionary direction. You could call that holistic concept : Pan-Causation29. It would take into account individual events, with group trans-formations, and general environmental effects. This novel perspective might allow him to reach a less grim conclusion.

• Fuzzy Logic :
“Reality is logical.”

Ironically, quantum theory has forced theorists to take into account what they call “Fuzzy Logic”30. So now, computer programmers are able to take advantage of the creative effects of non-linear logic. Mathematical logic is precise and certain, but Evolutionary logic and Human reasoning make-up in creativity what they lack in certainty and determinism.

•  Mystery of Form :
“Some very fundamental workings of reality are a mystery . . . In some way it would have to interact with the same energy and matter that we are made of.”

The Enformationism Thesis postulates that the fundamental element of reality is the mundane stuff we call “Information”. That term originally referred to knowledge in a human mind. But Claude Shannon applied it to the concept of the “stuff” that computers process in their strict logical procedures. Those 1s and 0s are not informative in isolation, but only when intention-ally enformed31 into a common code, which connects meaning to abstract bits of information. Now, quantum theory has lead researchers to conclude that conceptual information* is also the causal power of Energy, and the malleable substance of Matter. So, we can now see the connection & interaction between Matter & Energy & Mind.

•  Limited Free Will :
“I’ve found no way to refute the logic that free will is an illusion.”

The human ability to imagine a not-yet-real future, and to set in motion a series of small changes that are intended to actualize that potential future state, is no longer an “illusion”, but a fuzzy-logical conclusion. Yet the ability to realize that desired difference between now & then is limited by the laws of nature, and by the randomness & uncertainty of universal evolution. We could debate the extent of causal intention to change the world, but I think the notion of “Free Won’t”32   might be just enough to make Peter Carter feel a bit better about his logical but “grim” worldview. 

                End of Blog Post 122

29. Pan-Causation :
What’s Wrong with Evolutionary Causation?
Individuals & agents
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10441-020-09381-0

30. Fuzzy Logic :
Traditional Boolean Logic only allowed variables in integer values of 1, 2, 3, . . .
But many-valued logic permits fractional values between 0 and 1. This human-like logic is now used in Artificial Intelligence and Evolutionary Programming to more completely emulate both randomized evolution and the uncertainty of human reasoning.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuzzy_logic

31. Platonic Form :
Plato labeled the essence of things as atemporal aspatial, hence mysterious, “Form”. Then Aristotle used the same term in his more realistic theory of causation : material ; formal ; effective ; and final causes. Yet, both Formal (design) and Final (intention) imply a mind of some kind to do the enforming.
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/information/
* The mass-energy-information equivalence principle
https://aip.scitation.org/

32. Freeish Will :
The Enformationism thesis postulates a worldview that is not religious, or scientific, but philosophical. It is internally focused on the real world of physical & biological evolution. But due to the ubiquitous role of Information (mind stuff), it envisions an ideal world that emerged from aimless evolution to produce creatures with a mind of their own.

Those upright animals have changed the course of evolution to suit their own needs & purposes, because they have acted as-if they were free agents. But their individualism has created an internal conflict that places political constraints on personal freedoms.

Sages and scientists have traced the flow of cause & effect back to an unknown, but reasonable First Cause. And some are content to leave their causation open-ended with an ellipsis . . .. So, ordinary people fill that gap with various kinds of eternal causes. But the most common gap-filler is the Creator concept called “God”. Yet a more evocative & modern name for that mystery might be The Enformer or the Programmer.

The Single Simple Question
That challenges All Convictions

Peter Carter MD

Primary Care Physician

“Connecting the conundrums of God and Immortality, Free Will, the Strange Reality of Quantum Physics, and Finding Purpose in Existence”.

Play or Fold?

ENFORMATIONISM