Quantum Mechanics, Free Will, and Determinism

Niall Shanks

Sankalp Bagaria

Objectives: This review advocates absolute determinism in our universe and reinterprets Quantum mechanics while doing so. Then it discusses some of its consequences across fields. Method: This study starts by proposing the absolute postulate of the universe and derives absolute determinism using concepts from both the classical and quantum mechanics. Then it advocates that though the universe is deterministic, it is unpredictable. Statistical outcomes of a classical experiment and probabilistic outcomes of a quantum experiment are not due to the indeterministic nature of the experiment but due to theoretical limit of calculation/ practical limit of measurement. The study then proposes that the "free will is an illusion". As the paths of the particles are determined, the paths and interactions of neurons and neurotransmitters are determined and thus the thoughts and actions are determined. Thus, free will is an illusion. Then it focuses on some consequences like the outcome of a radioactivity experiment, resolution of Schrodinger’s Cat Paradox and that of EPR Paradox. The study also touches upon chaos theory, Big Bang theory and consciousness. Findings: Based on Bohmian Mechanics, Superdeterminism and Cellular Automata Interpretation, this study proposes a new interpretation of quantum mechanics. Using absolute determinism, it also argues that free will is an illusion and support it with Benjamin Libet’s experimental findings in neuroscience and fMRI scans done later. The study discusses deterministic but unpredictable identification of the particle that will disintegrate next among N particles collected in a block. It also attempts resolution of Schrodinger’s Cat Paradox and that of EPR Paradox. Towards the end, the study explores chaos theory, Big Bang theory and consciousness. Novelty: In the new deterministic interpretation of QM, a distinction is made between what is real in the universe and what is measurable or calculable. For example, it reiterates that a particle’s position and momentum are fixed even if they can’t be measured or calculated precisely and simultaneously (a re-interpretation of HUP). In other words, the study implies that the famous quote of Albert Einstein – “God Does Not Play Dice With The Universe” holds true in the realm of quantum mechanics also as it already does in classical mechanics. Keywords: Universe, Determinism, Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, Quantum Mechanics, Laplace Demon, Free Will, Benjamin Libet, Consciousness, Theory of Everything

Mark Stephen Pestana

It has been claimed that quantum mechanics, unlike classical mechanics, allows for free will. In this paper I articulate that claim and explain how a complex physical system possessing fractal-like self similarity could exhibit both self consciousness and self determination. I use complexity theory to show how quantum mechanical indeterminacies at the neural level (as postulated by Eccles and Penrose) could "percolate up" to the levels of scale within the brain at which sensory-motor information transformations occur. Finally, I explain how macro level indeterminacy could be coupled with self determination to provide a physical system with the capacity for radically free willing.

Mosh� Flato

Henry Pierce Stapp

Sylwester Kornowski

There is the obvious incompleteness in the description of quantum mechanics (QM). QM makes it impossible to find the right solutions for the greatest secrets of nature such as the matter-antimatter asymmetry, the origin of dark matter (DM) and dark energy, or the difference of mind and brain which leads to the origin of free will and decision making. Here we show that free will is compatible with determinism and that mind is a DM structure.