Someone once asked William Provine of Cornell, a strict classical
determinist who discounts any notion of free will, or God for that matter,
if he thought quantum indeterminancy had any relevance for the issue of
free will, i.e. whether or not we can truly initiate events rather than be
completely limited to being "downstream" links in causal chains. He said
no, that any objective indeterminancy that might exist at the atomic level
would be "damped out" at the level of molecules on up. I'm not so sure,
and I note that a meeting called "Tuscon II" will be held April 8-13, 1996
at the Univ. of Arizona called "Toward a Science of Consciousness 1996."
One of the questions to be addressed at that meeting: Is there any
experimental evidence to indicate that quantum effects play a role in the
processes of the mind?
Anyway, I'd be interested in other opinions, about both the relevance of
quantum indeterminancy to consciousness, and the concept of "agent
causation" or "personal explanation" raised by Gary DeWeese. Thanks!
Charles (Chuck) F. Austerberry, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biology
Chair, Pre-Health Sciences Advisory Committee
Creighton University
2500 California Plaza
Omaha, NE 68178-0103
Phone: 402-280-2154 (Office) and -2321 (Lab)
Fax: 402-280-5595
Room: Rigge Science 508 (Office) and 514 (Lab)
e-mail: cfauster@creighton.edu