> by free will I mean the ability to choose otherwise given the exact same state of the universe. It turns out this concept is as unscientific as magic.
I think coarse-graining, bifurcation theory and chaos is the escape hatch here. You never know the micro state of any system, any small difference in state will be amplified once on macro scales.
If you define "choice" as "overcoming determinism" then you've just decided on a bad definition of choice.
If you assume determinism and observe people making choices in the world, then I can't see the utility of just asserting your definition above and claiming choices dont exist.
It's just as useful as saying, "chairs don't exist because everything is atoms"
I think coarse-graining, bifurcation theory and chaos is the escape hatch here. You never know the micro state of any system, any small difference in state will be amplified once on macro scales.
If you define "choice" as "overcoming determinism" then you've just decided on a bad definition of choice.
If you assume determinism and observe people making choices in the world, then I can't see the utility of just asserting your definition above and claiming choices dont exist.
It's just as useful as saying, "chairs don't exist because everything is atoms"