Free Will: a new study (Introduction)

by dhw, Friday, January 08, 2016, 12:33 (3242 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: A new study says our wills are free up to a point:-http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160104130826.htm-QUOTE: If subjects are able to evade being predicted based on their own brain processes this would be evidence that control over their actions can be retained for much longer than previously thought, which is exactly what the researchers were able to demonstrate. "A person's decisions are not at the mercy of unconscious and early brain waves. They are able to actively intervene in the decision-making process and interrupt a movement," says Prof. Haynes. "Previously people have used the preparatory brain signals to argue against free will. Our study now shows that the freedom is much less limited than previously thought. However, there is a 'point of no return' in the decision-making process, after which cancellation of movement is no longer possible." Further studies are planned in which the researchers will investigate more complex decision-making processes."-DAVID: I thought Matt and Romansh might comment.-I'll comment instead. I have put in bold the key sentence: “A person's decisions...They are able to intervene in the decision-making process.” What does “they” refer to? Assuming decisions don't intervene in the decision-making process, they = a person, in which case who or what is the “person”? Prof. Haynes is either distinguishing between the person and the brain waves, or between unconscious, early conscious and later conscious brain waves. So is the person that intervenes separate from the brain or not? If it's the former, Haynes is arguing for dualism, and if it's the latter, he is arguing for materialism, in which case we are still at the mercy of our brains. But our brains in that case ARE “us”, so that does not mean “we” do not take our own decisions. Whether we have free will or not therefore depends on the definition of free will, and the answer to the question “freedom from what?” Back to square one.-Of course there is a point of no return. That will be the moment at which the movement has been made. I am applying to Universitätsmedizin Berlin for a grant to cover my research into how decisions are made to grant grants for research into how decisions are made.