Comments | onecrane: Free will versus fate

onecrane

Free will versus fate

Jan 08, 2008 11:04

An LJ friend of mine just asked a question that got me wanting to rant about fate and free will. Like many of my rants, I get a bit wander-y.

I would also like to point out that these views are mine alone, and I neither ask nor suggest that anybody else adopt them in whole or in part. My intent is solely to share my fascination.

( One computer scientist's view. )

Comments 10

What about Divine Intervention? wyckedgood January 8 2008, 19:21:36 UTC

Do you then believe in the possibility of direct, Divine intervention?

Re: What about Divine Intervention? onecrane January 8 2008, 20:32:30 UTC

Thanks for the question! A hard one to directly answer. By definition, divine intervention is an entity acting on a situation over which it has complete control in order to bring it more into alignment with its will.

I certainly believe that's possible. Just as I can tamper with parts my own body, whatever divinity I'm a part of can tamper with me.

Interestingly, computer science makes it possible for us to experience divine intervention in reverse, to be the arbiters of gross violations in expectation. I could, if I so chose, create a system of artificial intelligence constructs, let them run for a little while, let them learn how their world works, let them learn what to expect - and then I could stop time, alter an unfolding event, and then start time again. Given sufficient time and frequency of such events, a learning construct would begin to perceive that there are forces acting upon its world that it has no understanding of, and so the machine would begin to formulate a god for itself. Wouldn't that be an experiment!

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Re: As the second computer scientist in the thread... onecrane January 8 2008, 22:20:44 UTC

Indeed, there are so many directions the mind can wander when trying to fathom the why of the universe. I suppose the origin of existence - much like the concept of the beginning of time - haunts everything on some level ( ... )

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Re: As the second computer scientist in the thread... onecrane January 9 2008, 05:30:56 UTC

*LOL*

Very nice, sir.

naamaire January 8 2008, 22:15:18 UTC

Have you ever read Douglas Hofsteddter's Goedel Escher Bach: And Eternal Golden Braid? I think you would love it-- it's all about reconciling determinant functions with chaos and free will.

onecrane January 8 2008, 22:21:24 UTC

I have not, but it looks like today would be a good day to start. I bet that's one of those books that makes my head hurt a lot within two pages.

naamaire January 8 2008, 22:49:11 UTC

Yeah, but it hurts so good!

joy_walker January 9 2008, 20:19:51 UTC

Gotta admit, I tried GEB and gave up within the first 5 pages. I think it may be one of those books you've gotta be in the right mood and mind-set to read. If it seems impenatrable, put it aside and pick it up a while later, after the soreness has worn off. (I think it's about time for me to give it another try, too.)

aleenarain January 10 2008, 03:53:39 UTC

For some reason your post made me think of a wonderful quote by Herman Melville.

"We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results"

onecrane January 10 2008, 16:47:34 UTC

Interesting... wonder why. :) But I believe that to be the case.