THE FREE WILL OF GOD.

The debate over free will—whether it is an illusion or a genuine aspect of human experience—has long intrigued philosophers, scientists, and the general public. This essay explores the complex interplay between free will and various theoretical models, including determinism and stochastic theories. We begin by defining free will, clarifying it as the ability to make choices unconstrained by external factors, and distinguishing it from related concepts such as autonomy and agency. We then delve into deterministic models, which argue that every event, including human actions, is the result of preceding causes, and discuss how these models challenge traditional notions of moral responsibility. In contrast, stochastic models introduce the idea of randomness and uncertainty into the equation. By examining quantum mechanics—where particles behave probabilistically rather than deterministically—we investigate whether quantum indeterminacy offers a pathway to free will. The observer effect in quantum mechanics, which suggests that observation can influence outcomes, is explored as a potential link between consciousness and free will, though its implications remain speculative. We further consider consciousness and its role in decision-making, discussing the concept of qualia and how it might suggest a degree of autonomy within complex systems. The essay also addresses emergent properties—phenomena that arise from complex interactions and cannot be solely explained by their components—as a possible framework for understanding free will. Through real-life examples, such as legal cases and everyday decision-making, we illustrate the practical implications of the free will debate. We also engage with counterarguments from neuroscience, including findings on subconscious decision-making, to provide a balanced perspective. Prominent philosophical views, from Kant’s advocacy of free will for moral responsibility to Spinoza’s deterministic outlook, are examined to enrich the discussion. In conclusion, this essay reflects on the broader implications of the free will debate for our understanding of morality and human behavior. It emphasizes the importance of continued research in neuroscience, physics, and philosophy to address this enduring question and enhance our grasp of human agency.

"This paper shows that several live philosophical and scientific hypotheses – including the holographic principle and multiverse theory in quantum physics, and eternalism and mind-body dualism in philosophy – jointly imply an audacious new theory of free will. This new theory, "Libertarian Compatibilism", holds that the physical world is an eternally existing array of two-dimensional information – a vast number of possible pasts, presents, and futures – and the mind a nonphysical entity or set of properties that "read" that physical information off to subjective conscious awareness (in much the same way that a song written on an ordinary compact-disc is only played when read by an outside medium, i.e. a CD-player). According to this theory, every possible physical “timeline” in the multiverse may be fully physically deterministic or physically-causally closed but each person’s consciousness still entirely free to choose, ex nihilo, outside of the physical order, which physically-closed timeline is experienced by conscious observers. Although Libertarian Compatibilism is admittedly fantastic, I show that it not only follows from several live scientific and philosophical hypotheses, I also show that it (A) is a far more explanatorily powerful model of quantum mechanics than more traditional interpretations (e.g. the Copenhagen, Everett, and Bohmian interpretations), (B) makes determinate, testable empirical predictions in quantum theory, and finally, (C) predicts and explains the very existence of a number of philosophical debates and positions in the philosophy of mind, time, personal identity, and free will. First, I show that whereas traditional interpretations of quantum mechanics are all philosophically problematic and roughly as ontologically “extravagant” as Libertarian Compatibilism – in that they all posit “unseen” processes – Libertarian Compatibilism is nearly identical in structure to the only working simulation that human beings have ever constructed capable of reproducing (and so explaining) every single general feature of quantum mechanics we perceive: namely, massive-multiplayer-online-roleplaying videogames (or MMORPGs). Although I am not the first to suggest that our world is akin to a computer simulation, I show that existing MMORPGs (online simulations we have already created) actually reproduce every general feature of quantum mechanics within their simulated-world reference-frames. Second, I show that existing MMORPGs also replicate (and so explain) many philosophical problems we face in the philosophy of mind, time, personal identity, and free will – all while conforming to the Libertarian Compatibilist model of reality. I conclude, as such, that as fantastic and metaphysically extravagant as Libertarian Compatibilism may initially seem, it may well be true. It explains a number of features of our reality that no other physical or metaphysical theory does"

This essay celebrates a nearly four-year collaboration with Dr. James E. Beichler to whom I owe a great debt of gratitude for rigorously exploring these insights in his own publications and also co-authoring a paper published in these proceedings. I have quoted him here in recognition of our mutual understanding and referenced how he has addressed these insights in many of his papers in my bibliography. It is shown here how point-centered processes could have generated all phenomena and the expansion of our universe including non-material consciousness. He and I agree that a dimensionless mechanism, its dimensional byproducts, and measurements could have produced what is physical, emotional, mental, soulful, and spiritual. “Before that moment of time [i.e., the beginning of spacetime], all science has to rely on is unfounded speculation, or at least that was the situation before Riemannian geometry was modified by incorporating point-elements and Andrews developed his intuitive notion of a 0-D point Void. Everything in our scientific model of reality changes by adopting the 0-D point Void as the original Riemannian point-element from which our more advanced Riemannian space-time structure of physical reality evolved.”- James E. Beichler (2017) p.4

Determinism seems to rule out a robust sense of options but also prevent our choices from being a matter of luck. In this way, free will seems to require both the truth and falsity of determinism. If the concept of free will is coherent, something must have gone wrong. I offer a diagnosis on which this puzzle is due at least in part to a tension already present in the very idea of free will. I provide various lines of support for this hypothesis, including some experimental data gathered by probing the judgments of non-specialists.

This work outlines the nature of free will and determinism in the universe according to Paul C. Mocombe’s theory of phenomenological structuralism. The author posits that phenomenological structuralism is a deterministic theory, which sees free will as an illusion and the product of the human ability to defer meaning in ego-centered communicative discourse.