8' - The Information Philosopher

This excerpt from The Information Philosopher by John L. Casti explores the philosophical problem of free will by examining the history of the concept, from ancient Greek philosophers like Aristotle and Epicurus to modern scientists like Albert Einstein and John Searle. The book focuses on the interplay between determinism and indeterminism in the universe, arguing that quantum indeterminacy, the inherent randomness of the quantum world, plays a crucial role in the creation of information structures that are essential to human freedom. The author proposes a two-stage model of free will, in which the first stage involves the random generation of alternative possibilities for thought or action, and the second stage involves the adequately determined choice of one of those possibilities by the agent. He suggests that this model is consistent with both the evidence from quantum mechanics and our everyday experience of making decisions.