In 2021, I wrote a blog post about how I believed that free will is the result of the uncertainty principle, that our brains are somehow affected by the wave function collapse, thereby giving us true free will. I no longer believe that – but it also doesn’t matter.
The universe is plenty random and you won’t need free will at all.
I have read and watched videos about how the brains works, and it seems to me that the inner workings of the brain is not governed by quantum mechanics after all. Although we have 86 billions neurons and thus they are really tiny indeed, they still operate at too much of a macroscopic level to be affected by the uncertainty principle. The wave function is always collapsed in our brains.
The brain is sculptured during a lifetime both by genes and by how the environment influences it. This creates the personality you have today, with all the opinions and decisions it spawns. I have discovered that I tend to make decisions in exactly the same way, even across months or even years.
I’ll give you a few examples.
A while back, I discovered the metal poster site Displate, which offers a choice between thousands of images on their web site. I had a situation where I added a lot of images to favorites. Many days later, I discovered that I didn’t create a user and logged in, so I did just that. Then I started over adding images to favorites. At a later point I went back to my first list of favorites as I wanted to transfer them over. That’s when I was shocked to learn how much that list of favorites was almost synchronized with the list for my logged in user. Even if I couldn’t really remember them as I tagged along, I had a tendency to choose exactly the same images all over again.
The above is not an isolated incidence. I have noticed this effect in many other situations. I let you in on a severe one that really opened my eyes.
I like to post funny images on Facebook and I always make it my mission to do so with an overall good quality. I want my followers to know I choose wisely, and I’ve done it for years. All images have been saved into a folder on my computer. I’m not sure why I keep this folder but during the years, hundreds and hundreds of images have accumulated there. Some years later I started checking up on images on a web site with daily collections. Most of them were pretty old images and not really funny, especially to someone as critical as I was, but I still managed to find a rare few images that was good enough to be posted on Facebook. And as always, I saved them into the same folder first.
One day, I tried to save a specific image from the web site but was told it already existed.
I checked up on the image in the folder, and it turned out that not only did I already have the same funny image, I also tried to give it the same name. And it was an image I had posted on Facebook eight years ago! So in spite of that immense distance in time, I obviously still had the same taste and chose the same rare gems in an ocean of mostly unfunny images. I was flabbergasted to say the least.
It also made me realize how the sculpturing of out brains may repeat the decisions we make. Now, humans are complicated creatures and, of course, nothing is set in stone. We are affected by other opinions, and we learn new things. Perhaps in a few months or years, I would have a different taste in funny images and post differently on Facebook. We adapt and change our minds.
Nevertheless, I still have a feeling that in any given moment, we tend to make the one and only decision that applies to the knowledge and wisdom we have at that time. Say you were to make a choice from a menu at a restaurant, and you decided to be wild and choose something a little different from what you normally eat. Rewind time a few minutes – it doesn’t really matter how long – and place an exact clone of you in your stead, then play the same story without changing the external causes and effects.
I think your clone would make the exact same decision all over again.
Even if the true source of decision making is governed by a true throw of a dice, it wouldn’t matter since the higher levels of the brain would always end up choosing the same outcome every time. So technically, we don’t have free will – but does that mean the universe is deterministic? If there’s such a thing as a next big bang, are we all going through the exact same motions all over again?
I don’t think so. Even if we don’t have free will and tend to make the same decisions given the same setup, the universe is permeated in particles governed by the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics. This may affect causes and effects everywhere, ultimately resulting in a random universe. This means that even if you were to become the same human with the same reactions to specific situations, you would be exposed to different outcomes. It would never feel like you’re been here before.
Imagine if you’re in your home and decide it could be nice with a walk outside. You take a look outside the window. It’s sunny. So you put on your jacket and go for that walk. Let’s rewind to before the decision, although you will have a new processing of your brain. You take a look outside the window. It’s sunny. So you put on your jacket and go for that walk. Let’s rewind to before the decision, although you will have a new processing of your brain. You take a look outside the window. It’s sunny. So you put on your jacket and go for that walk. Let’s rewind to before the decision, although you will have a new processing of your brain. You take a look outside the window. It’s sunny. So you put on your jacket and go for that walk.
Now let’s change things up a little. Again we rewind to before the decision, although you will have a new processing of your brain. You take a look outside the window. There’s a storm and it’s also raining. So you decide to stay home and watch a movie instead.
See what I just did there?
That’s why it doesn’t matter whether you have free will or not. The universe will make certain your life will be plenty adventurous, with lots of unique turns. And even if things loop around and big bangs restart themselves, things will never be the same again.