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Journal of consciousness exploration & research

Views about Free Will & the Anatomy of State Function Reduction

Matti Pitkanen

Published Feb 28, 2012• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Even some physicists have now accepted "free will" into their vocabulary. However, many writers remain unaware of the distinctions between experienced time and the geometric time of physics. Thus, many of them make the error of eliminating conscious mind from the picture in the process of trying to understand free will. The outcome is that free will is something effective and emergent or free will is resulting from deterministic but non-predictable/non-computable process. In Topological Geometrodynamics (“TGD”), zero energy ontology would realize blocks as causal diamonds (“CD”) and would extend free will from a mere choice between given alternatives to creation of new worlds.

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Even some physicists have now accepted "free will" into their vocabulary. However, many writers remain unaware of the distinctions between experienced time and the geometric time of physics. Thus, many of them make the error of eliminating conscious mind from the picture in the process of trying to understand free will. The outcome is that free will is something effective and emergent or free will is resulting from deterministic but non-predictable/non-computable process. In Topological Geometrodynamics (“TGD”), zero energy ontology would realize blocks as causal diamonds (“CD”) and would extend free will from a mere choice between given alternatives to creation of new worlds.
The identification of the experienced time te and geometric time tg involves well-known problems. Physicist is troubled by the reversibility of tg contra irreversibility of te, by the conflict between determinism of Schrödinger equation and the non-determinism of state function reduction, and by the poorly understood the origin of the arrow of tg. In biology the second law of thermodynamics might be violated in its standard form for short time intervals. Neuroscientist knows that the moment of sensory experience has a finite duration, does not understand what memories really are, and is bothered by the Libet's puzzling finding that neural activity seems to precede conscious decision. These problems are discussed in the framework of Topological Geometrodynamics (TGD) and TGD inspired theory of consciousness constructed as a generalization of quantum measurement theory. In TGD space-times are regarded as 4-dimensional surfaces of 8-dimensional space-time H=M4×CP2 and obey classical field equations. The basic notions of consciousness theory are quantum jump and self. Subjective time is identified as a sequence of quantum jumps. Self has as a geometric correlate a fixed volume of H- "causal diamond"-defining the perceptive field of self. Quantum states are regarded as quantum superpositions of space-time surfaces of H and by quantum classical correspondence assumed to shift towards the geometric past of H quantum jump by quantum jump. This creates the illusion that perceiver moves to the direction of the geometric future. Self is curious about the geometric future and induces the shift bringing it to its perceptive field. Macroscopic quantum coherence and the identification of space-times as surfaces in H play a crucial role in this picture allowing to understand also other problematic aspects in the relationship between experienced and geometric time.
There are experiments suggesting that the reliability of future predictions for events is better for real than for hypothetical events. This strange finding, if real, would be an anomaly analogous to Libet's findings about active aspects of consciousness challenging the notion of free will. In this article it is argued that it is difficult to explain the finding in the physicalistic framework, and that the allowance of free will seems only to worsen the situation since precognition of acts of free will does not make sense. In the framework of Topological Geometrodynamics (TGD) zero energy ontology (ZEO) replaces the standard ontology of quantum theory. ZEO predicts that in "big" (ordinary) state function reductions (BSFRs) the arrow of time changes and that the identification of acts of free will identified as BSFRS is not in conflict with the determinism of classical physics as an exact part of quantum TGD. Also Libet's findings can be understood. This suggests a model for the anomaly. The experiment would have already happened as BSFR ("already" is with respect to subjective time to be distinguished from geometric time) for a quantum system associated with the experimenters and participants. The knowledge that the event is actual inspires unconsciously the attempt to "remember" the personal performance in the experiment instead of only imagining it and this would explain the improved future predictions.
In order to describe my findings/conclusions systematically, a new semantic system (i.e., a new language) has to be intentionally defined by the present article. Humans are limited in what they know by the technical limitation of their cortical language network. The conventionally-called “physical/objective reality” around my conventionally-called “physical/objective body” is actually a geometric mathematical model (being generated/mathematically-modeled by my brain) – it's actually a subset/component/part/element of my brain’s mind/consciousness. A reality is a situation model (SM). Our universe is an autonomous objective parallel computing automaton (aka state machine) which evolves by itself automatically/unintentionally – wave-particle duality and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle can be explained under this SM of my brain. Each elementary particle (as a building block of our universe) is an autonomous mathematical entity itself (i.e., a thing in itself). Our universe has the same nature as a Game of Life system – both are autonomous objective parallel-computing automata. If we are happy to accept randomness, then it is obviously possible that all other worlds in the many-worlds interpretation do not exist objectively. The conventionally-called “space” does not exist objectively. “Time” and “matter” are not physical. Consciousness is the subjective-form (aka quale) of the mathematical models (of the objective universe) which are intracorporeally/subjectively used by the control logic of a Turing machine’s program directly-fatedly. A Turing machine’s consciousness or deliberate decisions/choices should not be able to actually/objectively change/control/drive the (autonomous or directly-fated) worldline of any elementary particle within this world. Besides the Schrodinger equation (or another mathematical equation/function which is yet to be discovered) which is a valid/correct/factual causality of our universe, every other causality (of our universe) is either invalid/incorrect/counterfactual or can be proved by deductive inference based on the Schrodinger equation (or the aforementioned yet-to-be-discovered mathematical equation/function) only. Consciousness plays no causal role (“epiphenomenalism”), or in other words, any cognitive/behavioural activity can in principle be carried out without consciousness (“conscious inessentialism”). If the “loop quantum gravity” theory is correct, then time/space does not actually/objectively exist in the objective-evolution of the objective universe, or in other words, we should not use the subjective/mental concept of “time”, “state” or “space” to describe/imagine the objective-evolution of our universe.
Our five senses ask for the reference of reference, which cannot be found in our causal material reality. We all have a subjective reality that is presented as a simultaneity sphere around our consciousness. Consciousness not being a material entity with length or volume can be treated as a singularity. The cutting circles of the different spheres around the percipients form a foam (origin of decoherence) of objective mutual reality (history). Our Reductionist Causal Deterministic Universe (RCDU) is limited by the Planck Wall. Before that causality doesn’t exist, we call this “dimension” Total Simultaneity (TS). The causal time-line (β-time) consists of entangled Alpha–probabilities (α-P’s). Each “observer” is the origin of his own causal time lines. Free will makes the choice out of infinity of α-P’s in TS. Subjective individual time travel can happen without being conscious of the process (until now). We explain the double-slit experiment, the spooky action at a distance, the Many World Interpretation, Entropy, Time travel and free will. We indicate that the reductionist way of interpretation is only valid for a limited part of our reality and may not lead to the “truth” finding of the whole. The emergent way of approach may be more effective and create an understandable “being” of WHAT IS. (Parmenides, Greek Eleatic School of Philosophy, 515 BC).
Our five senses ask for the reference of reference, which cannot be found in our causal material reality. We all have a subjective reality that is presented as a simultaneity sphere around our consciousness. Consciousness not being a material entity with length or volume can be treated as a singularity. The cutting circles of the different spheres around the percipients form a foam (origin of decoherence) of objective mutual reality (history). Our Reductionist Causal Deterministic Universe (RCDU) is limited by the Planck Wall. Before that causality doesn’t exist, we call this “dimension” Total Simultaneity (TS). The causal time-line (β-time) consists of entangled Alpha–probabilities (α-P’s). Each “observer” is the origin of his own causal time lines. Free will makes the choice out of infinity of α-P’s in TS. Subjective individual time travel can happen without being conscious of the process (until now). We explain the double-slit experiment, the spooky action at a distance, the Many World Interpretation, Entropy, Time travel and free will. We indicate that the reductionist way of interpretation is only valid for a limited part of our reality and may not lead to the “truth” finding of the whole. The emergent way of approach may be more effective and create an understandable “being” of WHAT IS. (Parmenides, Greek Eleatic School of Philosophy, 515 BC).
Topological Geometro-Dynamics (TGD) is a unified theory of fundamental interactions. TGD involves a quite far-reaching generalization of the space–time concept and, apart from the notion of quantum jump, reduces quantum theory to infinite-dimensional geometry. General coordinate invariance forces the identification of the quantum states as quantum histories rather than time-constant snapshots of a single quantum history: this solves the basic determinism/non-determinism paradox of quantum measurement theory. The identification of the quantum jump as a moment of consciousness defines the microscopic theory of consciousness. p-Adic numbers is one of the basic new mathematical concepts necessary for the formulation of quantum TGD. The notion of the self as a subsystem remaining p-adically unentangled under the action of the “time evolution” operator U (S-matrix) associated with the sequential quantum jumps Ψ i UΨ i Ψ f is central for the macroscopic theory of consciousness. Vanishing p-adic entanglement means subcritical real entanglement so that the self can be regarded as a critical phenomenon. The moments of consciousness which occurred after the last “wake-up” bind temporally to a single experience and give rise to immediate subjective memory. Each self represents a self-organizing system approaching a stable self-organization pattern selected by dissipation. A self can have sub-selves and experiences sub-selves as mental images which are averages about mental images of sub-sub-selves. An infinite hierarchy of selves giving rise to an abstraction hierarchy is predicted. The notion of the manysheeted spacetime and the classical non-determinism of the Kähler action defining configuration space geometry are crucial for understanding how psychological time and cognition emerge in the TGD-universe and a rather radical generalization of the views about the relationship of subjective and geometric time is forced.