[FRIAM] freewill gedankenexperiment

[Pieter Steenekamp]

Dave, I love your scenario. Let me build on it.

After you have answered your questions and came to a conclusion add the
following:

With the current state of AI, a computer can reasonably easily do your
tasks, maybe better? So get an AI to dial your knobs. Does this AI have
free will and "meaning"?


On Thu, 18 Jun 2020 at 07:22, Prof David West <profwest at fastmail.fm> wrote:

> Imagine you are in a spaceship. You have a main thruster and two pairs of
> opposed lateral thrusters. All thrusters have limited fuel supplies,
> preventing perpetual use. Other than that, you may activate any thruster,
> alone or in combination for any duration up to the limit of the fuel supply.
>
> Call the ability to push buttons and fire thrusters at whim, with
> deliberation, accidentally, with intent, etc. "free will"with regard
> that/those act(s).
>
> Recognize that the outcome/consequence of your acts of freewill — i.e. a
> ship trajectory — is determined by the attitude, vector, momentum (embodied
> history or previous free will actions), and the gravitational influence of
> every other mass in the Universe. (Even if the influence is below a
> threshold of reasonable measurement,)
>
> Further recognize,  that for the outcome/consequence of your acts of
> freewill to have "meaning" — i.e. to ensure your arrival at Star Base Theta
> in the Altairian Sector — you need a comprehensive knowledge and
> understanding of celestial dynamics in order to take the right actions in
> the right degree at the right time.
>
> Now imagine yourself a homunculus sitting in a hidden recess of your
> cerebellum, surrounded by a 767's worth of buttons, switches, instruments,
> dials, and computer interfaces. You still have a "fuel constraint' but the
> degrees of freedom and the combinatorial explosion of possible acts/actions
> is immense.
>
> Call the ability to push buttons, flip switches, input computer commands,
> etc.; at whim, with deliberation, accidentally, with intent, etc. "free
> will" with regard that/those act(s).
>
> Recognize that the outcome/consequences of your acts of freewill — i.e. a
> "life trajectory" is determined by your state at the time of acting,  the
> embodied history of all previous acts, and the influence of all other
> entities (sentient or not, measurable or not) in your environment.
>
> Further recognize that for your life trajectory to have "meaning" — i.e.
> whatever set of states and circumstances that fit your idiosyncratic
> definition of 'the good life' — you need self-knowledge that exceeds even
> Socrates' ideal, awareness and understanding of culture, and probably
> comprehensive and intuitive understanding of Harry Seldon's Psychohistory.
>
> * * * * * * * * * * *
> Can useful questions, positions, conclusions be derived?
>
> davew
>
>
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