Discussing Free Will with LLM

A post-hoc summary of a discussion with some LLM. (this is nothing insightful relative to my usual brain dumps... but 用得唔好嘥...)

 We began by discussing the concept of free will and how it relates to sleep. The struggle to fall asleep despite wanting to led us to question whether free will exists over all aspects of our behavior.

**The Degrees of Free Will Approach:** We suggested that free will might not be absolute but could exist in degrees. Some things seem entirely outside our control (e.g., genetics, basic laws of physics), while others allow us significant agency.

**The Complexity of the Self:** We then explored the idea that our sense of self might not be unified. We often have conflicting desires and thoughts, making it difficult to determine which part of us truly "wants" what. This led us to question whether free will exists if we are constantly battling against different aspects of ourselves.

**Accepting the Struggle:** We concluded that inner peace might come from accepting the struggle rather than constantly fighting against it. By embracing the complexity of our selves, we can find a more balanced way of living.

**The Nature of Free Will:** Moving back to the broader question, we debated whether free will can exist in a deterministic universe. We argued that:

    - From a subjective experience, free will feels real.

    - If an external entity predicts our decision but doesn't tell us, it doesn't affect our subjective experience of free will.

    - The failure of a predictor to account for all variables could imply that true determinism is impossible, as it would lead to an endless recursive loop. (ed note: this refers to the trope of making the opposite decision no matter what the predictor predicts)

**The Subjectivity of Objectivity:** We also discussed the idea that there is no "true" objectivity. If something is truly objective, it would have to be known from all possible perspectives, which is impossible for any finite being.

**The Role of External Influences:** We questioned whether decisions made based on impulses or external influences are truly our free will. This led us to a profound exploration of the boundaries of "self":

    - We argued that our bodies are just physical vessels and that there is no clear physical boundary between us and the external world.

    - We considered prosthetics, phones, and online identities as extensions of ourselves, blurring the lines between what is 'me' and what is 'not-me'.

    - Ultimately, we proposed that *maybe every external influence can be considered a part of "me" in a sense*, with varying levels of impact.

**The Interconnectedness of All Things:** This led us to a beautiful conclusion: if there is no clear boundary between 'me' and 'not-me', and everything is interconnected, then free will becomes even more complex. It's not just about making decisions within our boundaries but about making decisions that impact the entire universe because we are the universe.