[FRIAM] Free will part 20250620 [Roxy Music edition]

[Marcus Daniels]

It was fun for a while
There was no way of knowing
Like a dream in the night
Who can say where we're going?
No care in the world
Maybe I'm learning
Why the sea on the tide
Has no way of turning




From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> on behalf of Marcus Daniels <marcus at snoutfarm.com>
Date: Sunday, June 22, 2025 at 1:42 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Free will part 20250620 

Indeed. An illusion with no grounding. A social construct. 

From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> on behalf of Jochen Fromm <jofr at cas-group.net>
Date: Sunday, June 22, 2025 at 1:39 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Free will part 20250620 

My impression is that the answer to the problem of free will can most likely not be found in theoretical physics, quantum mechanics or astrophysics. 


For those who would like to know more about it the books from Alfred Mele might be interesting. He is a professor of philosophy at Florida State University. Will try to get them in library: 


Alfred R. Mele, Free Will, An Opinionated Guide, Oxford University Press, 2022 

Alfred Mele, Free: Why Science Hasn't Disproved Free Will, Oxford University Press, 2014 

Alfred Mele Free will and luck, Oxford University Press, 2006 

YouTube interview of Alfred Mele 
https://youtu.be/JmScv7ut22U 

He also appears in "Big Questions in Free Will" 
https://youtu.be/9uRTjfhIf4M 

-J. 







-------- Original message -------- 

From: Marcus Daniels <marcus at snoutfarm.com> 

Date: 6/22/25 9:00 PM (GMT+01:00) 

To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com> 

Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Free will part 20250620 



Let’s say that Gerard ‘t Hooft is roughly correct with his model of a cellular automata (CA) model of the universe and quantum mechanics. 

Let’s further say the model is incomplete because the universe is infinite that has a fluctuating metric for space. The ruler gives us the illusion of an expanding universe and could be consistent with the observed cosmic background radiation. QM unitaries would come from CAs like Fredkin Cas and dissipative behavior from CAs like Conway’s Game of Life. 

In that situation, there would be a growing network of causality chains as light from one place reached another place. But entanglement would be weird on the edges where information encounters one another. 

Does any of this give free will? No, but it seems like it might suggest an experiment with advanced telescopes.

Marcus 
From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> On Behalf Of Jochen Fromm
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2025 12:32 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com>
Subject: [FRIAM] Free will part 20250620 



A second blog post about free will in the series of philosophical blog articles nobody needs :) I tried to mention all references and inspirations. If I forgot to mention someone please let me know. 
https://blog.cas-group.net/2025/06/the-hard-problem-of-free-will/ <https://blog.cas-group.net/2025/06/the-hard-problem-of-free-will/> 



-J. 










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