Free Will Part 3 — The Scientific Case Against Determinism

Mathematical Limits, Emergence, Complexity, and Open Systems Show a Universe More Wondrous than We Like to Assume.

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The philosophical debate surrounding free will often assumes a false dichotomy between deterministic necessity and pure randomness. The insistence is that neither deterministic physical cause-and-effect, nor random chance, provide room for free will to exist. I propose that these arguments are based on an abused form of inductive reasoning, and fail to incorporate an entire field of study: General Systems and Complexity.

The observable self-organizing properties of open systems fundamentally contradict the logic extrapolated from simple, closed, deterministic models. The universe is characterized instead by emergent, self-organizing complexity, presenting an alternative to both strict determinism and pure chance.

NOTE: This is a companion article to the YouTube video which can be watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAjdQddknso | The purpose of this article is to provide a deeper and more scholarly dive into the topics discussed. The full article can only be read on Medium.com, the link to the full article is provided below: