Many of you think that my assertion that free will is superstition is unfounded. You ask if there is any test supporting my view that free will does not exist.
I could weasel out of this by noting that the EXISTENCE of free will is the extraordinary claim, since it implies the supernatural, and so the burden of proof is on those who would claim it. Heck, I would even settle for a definition of free will that wasn’t just a clump of words arranged in a circle jerk.
But I won’t take the easy way out. I will propose a test of free will that you can do at home.
First we must define free will. That’s tough without using other vague phrases like “intention” or “on purpose” or “choice.” You end up going down the rabbit hole chasing all of the definitions that are part of other definitions until you end up where you started. So I propose a simpler definition:
Free will is an individual’s ability to change the physics of the material world in such a way that the normal chain of cause and effect is broken. In the case of free will, this change happens to the physics of the brain. Furthermore, the initial cause of this change can not itself be deterministically caused by something else, but it can be informed.
So in this definition, if a lawnmower had free will, it could decide whether or not the gasoline would be ignited by the spark plug. The decision would not be based on the normal laws of physics. But a lawnmower has no free will, so we need not worry about it.
So here’s a test you can perform at home. I will give you an example of something that your brain would normally perform in a straight-ahead cause and effect manner if the physics of your brain were left to its own devices. Your job is to use your free will to break that chain. If you can do it, you have proven free will exists.
The test is this: Leave a comment on this blog that says you now understand my point about the nonexistence of free will and that you are convinced I am not only right but also much, much smarter than you. Confess your prior arrogance and ask for my forgiveness. Exclaim that this is the best blog in the whole world. Mention that my brilliance is kind of sexy, and if you are a guy, you are starting to question your sexual orientation. There can be no hint of sarcasm in your comment or it will void your test.
According to my view that free will does not exist, you will be unable to perform that test unless you actually happen to think the things I asked you to say or you think it would be funny to write them anyway. If you are nothing but a moist robot yanked to and fro by your body chemistry, you will leave a bitter and snarky comment instead. Or you will just leave no comment. Or your comment will drip with sarcasm. And that is how you will know free will does not exist.
This is a good test because I’m asking you to do something that is clearly against your nature (except you Flabaya). Yet it doesn’t cost you anything, won’t hurt much, and it’s in the name of science, so there should be no real reason you can’t perform the test.
Go.