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On Microscopic Irreversibility and Non-deterministic Chaos: Resolving the Conflict between Determinism and Free Will

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Integral Biomathics

Abstract

This article attempts to resolve the age-old conflict of determinism and free will. The problem is approached from two directions: biological information processing and physical determinism at the ontological and the epistemological levels. It is shown that biological information processing is neither absolutely deterministic nor completely random. It is shown that Laplace’s determinism can neither be proved nor disproved and is, therefore, an epistemological choice. It is further shown that a) Boltzmann’s statistical mechanics is irreconcilable with Newtonian mechanics, contrary to Boltzmann’s own claim, b) microscopic reversibility cannot possibly give rise to macroscopic irreversibility, c) Zermelo’s recurrence paradox and Loschmidt’s velocity-reversal paradox are valid arguments against Boltzmann’s claim, and d) in breaking the tie with Newtonian mechanics, Boltzmann was actually the hero that had freed us from the bondage of absolute physical determinism. Last but not least, it is impossible to design a scientific experiment to test the existence or non-existence of free will because of the impossibility to maintain the required homogeneity of human test samples. However, individuals who believe in the existence of free will have a more consistent worldview than non-believers. If free will does not exist, it is futile and meaningless to attempt to convince others that free will does not exist.

Dedicated to the memory of the late Professor Michael Conrad of Wayne State University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48201, USA

    Felix T. Hong

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  1. Felix T. Hong
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Correspondence to Felix T. Hong .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. JSRC, Wilhelmstrasse 91, Berlin, 10117, Germany

    Plamen L. Simeonov

  2. , Dept. of Computing Science and, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, United Kingdom

    Leslie S. Smith

  3. , Faculte des Sciences Mathematiques, Université de Picardie „Jules Verne“, rue Saint‐Leu 33, Amiens, 80039, France

    Andrée C. Ehresmann

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Hong, F.T. (2012). On Microscopic Irreversibility and Non-deterministic Chaos: Resolving the Conflict between Determinism and Free Will. In: Simeonov, P., Smith, L., Ehresmann, A. (eds) Integral Biomathics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28111-2_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28111-2_21

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