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The Quantum Physics of Free Will

The Quantum Physics of Free Will | Science News | Scoop.it

Do we have autonomy, or are our choices preordained? Is that a false choice? And what, if anything, does physics have to say about that?


Articles about FREE WILL: http://www.scoop.it/t/science-news?page=1&tag=free%20will

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Freedom and physics

Freedom and physics | Science News | Scoop.it

For all the progress physics has made in the last 100 or so years, it has not provided an answer to the free will question. Even quantum indeterminacy does not entirely kill off determinism. Quantum effects take place at tiny scales and whether they can affect the macroscopic world in a meaningful way is debatable.

And as Conway has pointed out, there's always the possibility that we live in a "second time around Universe". The first time around, quantum events may have been random and peoples' choices may have been free, but if we live in a replay, then everything happens in a totally determined fashion. "In the end a completely deterministic world is not incompatible with quantum mechanics," says Zeilinger. "I would say either way is basically speculation, the claim that things are deterministic is speculation and the rest too. This simply is a wide open question."

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Science fiction, science fact: reports from the frontiers of physics | plus.maths.org

Science fiction, science fact: reports from the frontiers of physics | plus.maths.org | Science News | Scoop.it

Science fiction, science fact: reports from the frontiers of physics
Submitted by Rachel on May 25, 2011

What is time? What is space? How did the Universe start? Does infinity exist? Join Plus and FQXi on a journey exploring these and many more questions on the frontiers of physics. What do you think is science fiction and what is science fact? Find out more about scientific developments in these areas, ask your own questions and debate the answers!

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