Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!pdn!ard From: ard@pdn.UUCP (Akash Deshpande) Newsgroups: comp.ai Subject: Re: Free Will & Self-Awareness Message-ID: <3084@pdn.UUCP> Date: 9 May 88 01:32:40 GMT References: <4134@super.upenn.edu> <3200014@uiucdcsm> <1484@pt.cs.cmu.edu> Organization: Paradyne Corporation, Largo, Florida Lines: 34 Consider a vending machine that for $.50 vends pepsi, coke or oj. After inserting the money you make a selection and get it. You are happy. Now consider a vending machine that has choices pepsi, coke and oj, but always gives you only oj for $.50. After inserting the money you make a selection, but irrespective of your selection you get oj. You may feel cheated. Thus, the willed result through exercise of freedom of choice may not be related to the actual result. The basic question of freewill is - "Is it enough to maintain an illusion of freedom of choice, or should the willed results be made effective?". The latter, I suppose. Further consider the first (good) vending machine. While it was being built, the designer really had 5 brands, but chose (freely, for whatever reasons) to vend only the three mentioned. As long as I (as a user of the vending machine) don't know of my unavailable choice space, I have the illusion of a full freedom of choice. This is where awareness comes in. Awareness expands my choices, or equivalently, lack of awareness creates an illusion of freewill (since you cannot choose that which you do not know of). Note that the designer of the vending machine controls the freewill of the user. Indian philosophy contends that awareness (=consciousness) is fundamental. Freewill always exists and is commensurate with awareness. But freewill is also an illusion when examined in the perspective of greater awareness. Akash -- Akash Deshpande Paradyne Corporation {gatech,rutgers,attmail}!codas!pdn!ard Mail stop LF-207 (813) 530-8307 o Largo, Florida 34649-2826 Like certain orifices, every one has opinions. I haven't seen my employer's!