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1.5 MB
Extraction Summary
1
People
1
Organizations
1
Locations
0
Events
0
Relationships
4
Quotes
Document Information
Type:
Book page / evidence document
File Size:
1.5 MB
Summary
This document appears to be page 353 from a book or manuscript discussing theoretical physics, specifically the concepts of free will, determinism, and Turing machines. It argues against a deterministic universe, suggesting that creativity and rationality imply free will. The document bears a House Oversight Committee stamp, indicating it was collected as evidence, likely during investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, who was known to associate with theoretical physicists.
People (1)
| Name | Role | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown Author | Author |
The narrator ('I') arguing for the existence of free will based on physics and information theory.
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Organizations (1)
| Name | Type | Context |
|---|---|---|
| House Oversight Committee |
Identified by the footer stamp 'HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_016043', indicating this document was part of a congressional investi...
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Locations (1)
| Location | Context |
|---|---|
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Discussed in the context of physics and determinism.
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Key Quotes (4)
"The Universe is not a machine."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_016043.jpg
Quote #1
"I reason. Therefore, I have free will."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_016043.jpg
Quote #2
"If the hardware is deterministic, then so is our software. And if the hardware is deterministic, there can be no creativity within the Universe."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_016043.jpg
Quote #3
"The determined determinists are a determined bunch."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_016043.jpg
Quote #4
Full Extracted Text
Complete text extracted from the document (2,485 characters)
Free Will 353
whole existence is surrounded by non-deterministic physics. Therefore,
your actions are not predetermined by anything in your local corner of
the Universe – the past light cone if you want to be strict about the physics.
The determined determinists are a determined bunch. Just because
the information that determines your actions cannot be encoded by the
particles you are made from, does not mean you are free. The information
could be stored in parts of the Universe we cannot see, or held outside
the Universe in some sort of cosmic hard drive. Every creative event in
the Universe would be specified in this store.
But this begs the third question: How was this store of information
generated in the first place? If a Universe contains creative things – as our
Universe does – there is no way to computably generate the necessary
determinist store of information. The Universe has free will because there
is no deterministic process that could generate it.
If our Universe were a Turing machine, everything within it
would be too. Think about the deterministic clockwork argument I
gave earlier. If you try to construct a better – say a more random –
machine inside a Turing machine, an observer could simply ignore the
better machine hidden within it, and watch the outer machine work.
The outer machine will predict the operation of the inner machine
perfectly, even if the inner machine is fiendishly complicated. We
have to consider the machine on which our human software runs. Our
bodies, our minds, all that we are, is software running on the Universe’s
hardware of quarks and photons. If the hardware is deterministic, then
so is our software. And if the hardware is deterministic, there can be no
creativity within the Universe.
So the free will camp has an argument easily as frustrating as the
one deployed by the determinists. Every time a determinist asks, “How
do you know you were not always going to do that?” the free will believer
can reply, “You asked me a question. If this dialogue is to have any
significance, then we must exist in a rational Universe and, therefore, the
laws of information give us creativity and free will. If you believe we are
fully determined, there is no point in my answering your question.”
I reason. Therefore, I have free will.
your actions are not predetermined by anything in your local corner of
the Universe – the past light cone if you want to be strict about the physics.
The determined determinists are a determined bunch. Just because
the information that determines your actions cannot be encoded by the
particles you are made from, does not mean you are free. The information
could be stored in parts of the Universe we cannot see, or held outside
the Universe in some sort of cosmic hard drive. Every creative event in
the Universe would be specified in this store.
But this begs the third question: How was this store of information
generated in the first place? If a Universe contains creative things – as our
Universe does – there is no way to computably generate the necessary
determinist store of information. The Universe has free will because there
is no deterministic process that could generate it.
If our Universe were a Turing machine, everything within it
would be too. Think about the deterministic clockwork argument I
gave earlier. If you try to construct a better – say a more random –
machine inside a Turing machine, an observer could simply ignore the
better machine hidden within it, and watch the outer machine work.
The outer machine will predict the operation of the inner machine
perfectly, even if the inner machine is fiendishly complicated. We
have to consider the machine on which our human software runs. Our
bodies, our minds, all that we are, is software running on the Universe’s
hardware of quarks and photons. If the hardware is deterministic, then
so is our software. And if the hardware is deterministic, there can be no
creativity within the Universe.
So the free will camp has an argument easily as frustrating as the
one deployed by the determinists. Every time a determinist asks, “How
do you know you were not always going to do that?” the free will believer
can reply, “You asked me a question. If this dialogue is to have any
significance, then we must exist in a rational Universe and, therefore, the
laws of information give us creativity and free will. If you believe we are
fully determined, there is no point in my answering your question.”
I reason. Therefore, I have free will.
The Universe is not a machine.
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_016043
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