Quote from: Ballzanya on Mar 24, 2012, 11:24:36 PM
Wait a minute. Are you suggesting here that decisions made by our brains subconsciously count as us being in control and thus making a choice, just as much as conscious decision making? To me that seems crazy. It's not just semantics and how you define the concept of free will.
As far as I'm concerned, if I don't consciously decide something, based on the immediate awareness of the possible options and their potential outcomes, then I haven't made a choice. If as one of these famous studies suggests, that the brain already starts sending a signal to start doing something before the person has any sense of desire to do that particular thing, then they have not chosen to do that particular thing.
I think it become both a question of definition, as well as identification/classification. I ask you to consider your dreams. Now, if we don't think too carefully, we tend to dismiss our dreams as more or less random and many times incoherent. But if you really think deeply about some of your dreams, you realize that often there is a narrative. Events often occur in your dreams that surprise you, but are still consistent within that particular dream. What part of your mind is planning how the dream unfolds? I am not talking about when your dreams fragment, or go of the rails. But rather the physical continuity of a relatively lucid dream, itself. If, in your dream, you are being chased by a monster, and suddenly come upon a weapon...it was your subconscious that "thought" to include the weapon. If you choose to pick up the weapon, and fire back at the monster...that is all occuring at a "sub-conscious" level. When dreams are vivid, there is a definite sense that some narrative is being planned and played out. Who is writing that narrative?
Evidently, there is a very real agent that resides deep within our mind, that operates on a sub-conscious level. You certainly are making "decisions" within your dreams...and these occur at the "sub-conscious" level...so how exactly does that differ from a decision you make in an awake, "conscious" state?
A brief word on the previously referenced neuro-studies on Free Will. A major difficulty lies in the fact that the subject must identify (by looking at a clock), when they were first aware that they had made a conscious decision to, say, lift their wrist, or push a button. This requires introspection on the part of the subject, and identification of intentionality. The subject does not give the researcher direct access to the moment they were first aware of their "intention"...but must tell them afterwards. They have to recall the position of the clock.
Another problem is determining if the "readiness potential" (identified by neural signature) is always followed by an action. The subject may show definite neural signs/brain waves indicated they have a readiness potential, but no action results. There is no way for the researcher to discriminate between the measurement of a given readiness potential, and the subjects intentionality to act or not to act.
Finally, as I emphasized previously, it is not at all apparent or evident that "willful" actions and influences on our behavior operate exclusively on a conscious level. The aforementioned studies, however, are based specifically on this assumption. The whole thing falls apart if one allows that the "will" can also operate on unconscious processes...or that our mind may also function with "pre-conscious" intentions.
