Determinism and the Illusion of Free Will

Much has been written about Determinism (the philosophical proposition that every event, including human cognition and behavior, decision and action, is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences) versus "Free Will" (the human individual control over its own thoughts and actions). Here's a concept that seeks not to prove one side but rather simply to explain how a Deterministic paradigm (human minds function like mega-complex computers) can give the "Illusion of Free Will" ("Free Will" being understood as humans having minds/souls that make choices which are not necessarily dependent on the laws of physics). First, why do we have the innate sensation of Free Will? I think it's because we each have had the experience of "knowing what we should or even must or even want to do" and then doing something else. So here's an analogy: A hypothetically mega-complex computer (as complex and efficient as a human brain) not only hosts a substantial knowledge of science but specifically has complete understanding of its own design. It "knows", that when it prints a file, exactly what is happening at all times in its processes and it "knows" the consequences are entirely deterministic and predictable. It therefore initially concludes that there is no such thing as Free Will. Then, one day, the mega-complex computer sends an electronic signal (command) to print a file but the system inexplicably crashes. SIDE NOTE: Most physicist agree that at the subatomic level, particles do not always behave 100% predictably. (See Quantum Mechanics) Maybe this phenomenon occurred in the process of trying to print a file. This subatomic divergence had a cascading effect that resulted in the system crash. Consequently, the mega-complex computer has the experience of "wanting" to do one action but experiencing another that seems to have no other cause. Then, the mega-complex computer is given the explanation that it's possible for mega-complex computers to have Free Will. And it's further instructed that the print-command system crash is evidence of a non-deterministic paradigm which proves its own "Free Will". And so, in the absence of contrary evidence, the mega-complex computer revises its initial conclusion and succumbs to the illusion of Free Will. The unpredictability of the subatomic particles can have a cascading effect of unpredictable behavior. A mind that is self-aware has an intuitive understanding of itself as predictable. Such a mind with the capacity to recognize its own behavior as occasionally unpredictable is thus susceptible to believing in a paradigm of Free Will. Seems clever to me but maybe I need to give it a lot more thought and research. Here are some links you might find interesting: http://www.rationality.net/freewill.htm http://blogs.salon.com/0001561/stories/2002/11/17/freeWillVsDeterminism.html http://www.sfu.ca/philosophy/swartz/freewill1.htm Final Note: I do not claim to be the first originator of any of this. But I think the computer analogy is cool (and I currently think it may possibly be mine).

Some Advice about Hollywood

1) You gotta do the tasks of the job for free before someone will pay you poorly to do them. You gotta prove your professionalism while getting paid poorly for someone to pay you more.

2) Simply interacting with people in Los Angeles over the years will earn you numerous opportunities to meet someone who has the power to give you a "big break". Whether they do is almost entirely dependent on what you have done before that meeting. Getting that meeting shouldn't be your top priority. Build up your selling points before you try to make a sale. Would you trust an unknown, self-proclaimed architect with millions of dollars to design your home? Or would you rather go with someone who has designed structures before that have actually been built, that you like, and that are still standing?

3) Make lots of friends and help them whenever you can beause you never know who will "get over the wall" first among your cohorts. Most importantly make stuff on your own! Equipment is cheap and when you're a novice so is your time. Be entrepreneurial. Always have "side projects" because you never know what will hit. Hold more than one lottery ticket. And finally, learn the "academic" side of your career because that's objectively determinable and only takes time & effort. "

4) This business is all about inertia. Other than money, there's no such thing as potential power in Hollywood. The only power that exists is that which is exerted. Owed favors are a farce. Go ahead and take any and every kind of favor that is offered because, I believe, favors work counter-intuitively. It's not "I do you a favor and now you owe me a favor" but rather it's oddly "I do you a favor and now I VIRTUALLY OWE YOU ANOTHER FAVOR". Conversely, refusing a favor can insult the offerer and poison them to future favors. A favor will only rot in your pocket. Use favors as seeds; accept them so that they may bear fruit and give them freely so that there is more fruit to go around.

5) Check out the brilliant (though embarrassingly outdated) UMEC Handbook.
http://www.um-ec.org/UMEChandbook.pdf