[FRIAM] Breaking Bad and Free Will

[Stephen Guerin]

Anyone interested in feeding FRIAM Archive to a custom LLM. :-)

Prompt: Interpret Marcus use of gdb analogy in this thread:

GPT:
The analogy used by Marcus in the context of the TV show "Breaking Bad" and
the concept of free will involves a comparison with using the "step"
command in GDB (GNU Debugger). GDB is a tool used by programmers to debug
code. The "step" command in GDB allows the user to execute program code one
line at a time, observing the behavior and state of the program at each
step.

In "Breaking Bad," the main character, Walter White, is drawn into a life
of crime. The analogy suggests that watching Walter White's descent into
this life is like using the "step" command in GDB. Each step represents a
decision or action taken by Walter, leading him deeper into the criminal
world. Just as a programmer observes the progression of a program one step
at a time in GDB, the viewer observes Walter's journey into criminality in
a step-by-step manner.

The implication here is that Walter's choices, while appearing to be
individual conscious decisions, are part of an inevitable progression, much
like the sequential execution of code in a debugger. This raises questions
about free will and determinism, mirroring the discussion in the FRIAM
group about whether free will is an illusion, especially in the context of
strong compulsions or character traits that might limit one's range of
choices.
____________________________________________
CEO Founder, Simtable.com
stephen.guerin at simtable.com

Harvard Visualization Research and Teaching Lab
stephenguerin at fas.harvard.edu

mobile: (505)577-5828

On Thu, Jan 25, 2024, 4:20 PM Frank Wimberly <wimberly3 at gmail.com> wrote:

> GNU Debugger?
>
> ---
> Frank C. Wimberly
> 140 Calle Ojo Feliz,
> Santa Fe, NM 87505
>
> 505 670-9918
> Santa Fe, NM
>
> On Thu, Jan 25, 2024, 4:11 PM Marcus Daniels <marcus at snoutfarm.com> wrote:
>
>> Walter White was drawn into that life as sure as water runs downhill.
>>  Watching him go deeper and deeper was like repeating “step” in GDB.
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> *On Behalf Of *Jochen Fromm
>> *Sent:* Thursday, January 25, 2024 1:34 PM
>> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <
>> friam at redfish.com>
>> *Subject:* [FRIAM] Breaking Bad and Free Will
>>
>>
>>
>> Since one of you mentioned today that free will is a recurring FRIAM
>> topic I was thinking about it and found this SCIAM article that argues that
>> human beings do have the power to make conscious choices.
>>
>> https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/free-will-is-only-an-illusion-if-you-are-too/
>>
>> On the other hand the drug addicts in Breaking Bad and elsewhere clearly
>> demonstrate that drug addiction inevitably takes away our free will and
>> replaces it by a strong compulsion to get and consume the drug, no matter
>> how devastating the consequences are.
>>
>>
>>
>> Robert McKee says in his book "Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the
>> Principles of Screenwriting" that true character is revealed in the choices
>> a human being makes under pressure. Could you say that a strong character
>> or personality reduce our free will too, because they restrict our choices
>> and decisions?
>>
>>
>>
>> -J.
>>
>>
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