Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!quintus!ok
From: ok@quintus.UUCP (Richard A. O'Keefe)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Free Will & Self Awareness
Message-ID: <939@cresswell.quintus.UUCP>
Date: 7 May 88 02:31:52 GMT
References: <770@onion.cs.reading.ac.uk> <1177@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu> <10942@sunybcs.UUCP>
Distribution: comp
Organization: Quintus Computer Systems, Mountain View, CA
Lines: 20
Keywords: randomness responsibility

In article <10942@sunybcs.UUCP>, sher@sunybcs (David Sher) writes:
> It seems that people are discussing free will and determinism by
> trying to distinguish true free will from random behavior.  There is a
> fundamental problem with this topic.  Randomness itself is not well
> understood.  If you could get a good definition of random behavior you
> may have a better handle on free will.  

In particular, consider the difference between _random_ behaviour
and _chaotic_ behaviour.  A phsyical system may be completely described
by simple deterministic laws and yet be unpredictable in principle
(unpredictable by bounded computational mechanisms, that is).
[Pseudo-random numbers are really pseudo-chaotic.]

> Consider this definition of random behavior:
> X is random iff its value is unknown.

I do not known David Sher's telephone number, but I do not find it useful
to regard it as random (nor as chaotic).  Conversely, when listening to a
Geiger counter, I am quite sure whether or not I have heard a click, but
I believe that the clicks are random events.