Free will derives from multi-level structure

Computers programmed with multi-level structures—with three levels representing: (1) options for action (2) the grounds for deciding which option to take, and (3) a method for deciding which decision making process to follow—can exhibit free will.

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Computers can be programmed with multi-level structures with levels representing:

1) options for action—e.g. go to dinner, read, take a walk.

2) the grounds for deciding which option to take—e.g. choose the one that makes me happy, choose by fllipping a coin.

3) a method for deciding which decision making process to follow—e.g. follow the most "rational" method, follow the fastest method.

And computers that have been programmed with such multilevel structures can exhibit free will.

The Johnson-Laird argument
 
"At the lowest level, you do not make a conscious choice at all. you just continue to read, or you go for a walk, or whatever:

Level 0: Continue to read
Go for a walk

At the meta-level, you think about what to do and make a decision based, say, on a simple preference:

Level 1: By assessing preferences, you choose from:

Level 0: Continue to read
Going for a walk.

How did you arrive at this method of choice? You didn't think consciously about all the different ways in which you could make a choice, and then choose the assessment of preferences from amongst them. It simply came to mind as the right way to proceed. Perhaps most methods of choice are selected this way. But, as the theory allows, they need not be. You can confront the issue consciously (at the meta-meta-level), and reflect on which of the various methods of choice you will use. Perhaps you try to choose rationally from amongst them:

Level 2: Making a rational assessment, you choose from:

Level 1: Assessing preferences
Taking your spouse's advice
Spinning a coin
to choose from:

Level 0: Continuing to read
Going for a walk.

Why did you decide to choose rationally from amongst the various methods of choice? Once again, it just came to mind as the right way to proceed. The method of decision at the highest level is always chosen tacitly. if it were chosen consciously, there would be a still higher level at which that decision was made. In theory, there need be no end to the hierarchy of decisions about decisions about decisions, but the business of life demand that you do something rather than get lost in speculation about how to decide what to do. The buck must stop somewhere. "

"We are free, not because we are ignorant of the roots of many of our decisions, which we certainly are, but because our models of ourselves enable us to choose how to choose" (P. Johnson-Laird, 1988, p. 364-5).

References

Johnson-Laird, P. N. 1988.The Computer and the Mind: An Introduction to Cognitive Science. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.







 

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