Re: [-empyre-] free will and determinism

[Alan Sondheim <sondheim@panix.com>]

Re: Free will - I don't think the time argument holds; in any case, back
in 1973, a friend of mine who had a Phd in Quantum Electrodynamics -
Gregert Johnson - and I set out to look at the problem through a
controlled experiment. I typed 8000 characters 'randomly' - we took the
central 4000 (to eliminate edge effects), and did a time series analysis
which took hours on the computers of that era - to see what patterns might
emerge. Other than a dipthong effect (caused by finger alternations such
as jkjkjkjkjk etc.) - there was only an absolutely flat response.

For us, this eliminated determinism; the argument for free will was more
complex, vis-a-vis quantum theory.

Jim, I'm not sure why you are both open to all sorts of approaches to
neural functions on one hand, and insisting on a strong AI algorithmic
approach on the other -

ALan



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