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Related papers: Free Will and Quantum Mechanics: Much Ado about No…

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The issue of whether we make decisions freely has vexed philosophers for millennia, Resolving this is vital for solving a diverse range of problems, from the physiology of how the brain makes decisions (and how we assign moral…

History and Philosophy of Physics · Physics 2025-06-30 Tim Palmer

Quantum Mechanics is generally considered to be the ultimate theory capable of explaining the emergence of randomness by virtue of the quantum measurement process. Therefore, Quantum Mechanics can be thought of as God's wonderfully…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2012-04-11 Gilles Brassard , Paul Raymond-Robichaud

The interpretation of quantum mechanics has been a problem since its founding days. A large contribution to the discussion of possible interpretations of quantum mechanics is given by the so-called impossibility proofs for hidden variable…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2010-02-09 Ronnie Hermens

According to the widely accepted opinion, classical (statistical) physics does not support objective indeterminism, since the statistical laws of classical physics allow a deterministic hidden background, while --- as Arthur Fine writes…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2007-05-23 Laszlo E. Szabo

Recently Cator & Landsman made a comparison between Bell's Theorem and Conway & Kochen's Strong Free Will Theorem. Their overall conclusion was that the latter is stronger in that it uses fewer assumptions, but also that it has two…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2014-08-29 Ronnie Hermens

The concept of 'super-indeterminism' captures the notion that the free choice assumption of orthodox quantum mechanics necessitates only the following requirement: an agent's free-choice performance in the selection of measurement settings…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2016-04-01 Jan Walleczek

This paper argues for the following three theses: (1) There is a clear reason to prefer physical theories with deterministic dynamical equations: such theories are maximally rich in information and usually also maximally simple. (2) There…

History and Philosophy of Physics · Physics 2018-12-11 Michael Esfeld

Recently, it has been argued that quantum mechanics is complete, and that quantum states vectors are necessarily in one-to-one correspondence with the elements of reality, under the assumptions that quantum theory is correct and that…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2013-06-24 GianCarlo Ghirardi , Raffaele Romano

This article focuses on the connection between the possibility of quantum computers, the predictability of complex quantum systems in nature, and the issue of free will.

Quantum Physics · Physics 2022-04-07 Gil Kalai

Many have proposed that free will would use quantum indeterminism. Strict adherence to the Born rule, which follows from the no-signal condition, seems to block this possibility. I propose here that if state collapse really does occur then…

History and Philosophy of Physics · Physics 2012-02-10 George Svetlichny

Recently it has been claimed that no extension of quantum theory can have improved predictive power, the statement following, according to the authors, from the assumptions of free will and of the correctness of quantum predictions…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2013-06-25 GianCarlo Ghirardi , Raffaele Romano

The problem of defining and locating free will (FW) in physics is studied. On basis of logical paradoxes, we argue that FW has a meta-theoretic character, like the concept of truth in Tarski's undefinability theorem. Free will exists…

History and Philosophy of Physics · Physics 2014-01-09 Chetan S. Mandayam Nayakar , R. Srikanth

A new interpretation of quantum mechanics is proposed according to which precedence, freedom and novelty play central roles. This is based on a modification of the postulates for quantum theory given by Masanes and Muller. We argue that…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2012-05-17 Lee Smolin

The basic question in the long-standing debate about free will (FW) is not whether FW can be demonstrated to exist nor even whether it exists, but instead how to define it scientifically. If FW is not dismissed as an illusion nor identified…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2012-02-23 Chetan S. Mandayam Nayakar , S. Omkar , R. Srikanth

In quantum gravity there is no notion of absolute time. Like all other quantities in the theory, the notion of time has to be introduced "relationally", by studying the behavior of some physical quantities in terms of others chosen as a…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2009-03-12 Rodolfo Gambini , Jorge Pullin

It is discussed, why classical simulators of quantum computers escape from some no-go claims like Kochen-Specker, Bell, or recent Conway-Kochen "Free Will" theorems.

Quantum Physics · Physics 2010-05-11 Alexander Yu. Vlasov

Free will is sometimes summarised in the philosophical literature as the subjective impression felt by an individual that he or she is the ultimate source or cause of his or her own choices. The two most common arguments for denying the…

Neurons and Cognition · Quantitative Biology 2021-08-17 Eric Sanchis

The before-before experiment demonstrates that quantum randomness can be controlled by influences from outside spacetime, and therefore by immaterial free will. Rather than looking at quantum physics as the model for explaining free will,…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2009-01-19 Antoine Suarez

The aim of this paper is to argue that the (alleged) indeterminism of quantum mechanics, claimed by adherents of the Copenhagen interpretation since Born (1926), can be proved from Chaitin's follow-up to Goedel's (first) incompleteness…

Mathematical Physics · Physics 2021-03-25 Klaas Landsman

The abstract concept of indeterministic free will is distinguished from the phenomenon of free will. Evidence for the abstract concept is examined and critically compared with various designs of automata. It is concluded that there is no…

General Physics · Physics 2018-02-15 Mark J Hadley