I recently attended a lecture by Dr. Barry Loewer, professor of philosphy and acting Director of the Center for Philosophy and the Sciences at Rutgers University. His research areas include philosophy of science, philosophy of mind and metaphysics.

The topic of the lecture was:

What is the relationship between physics and free will?

Here are some of my notes:

Contemporary physics does not have a spiritual side.

The film, "What the Bleep Do We Know" is an example of the abuse of quantum mechanics.

Measurement causes the collapse of particles. This does not mean that consciousness plays into it. No academician has developed the idea that consciousness causes the collapse of particles. The "many worlds" theory describes quantum mechanics the best and does not support consciousness as a factor.

Physics, especially statistical mechanics, does explain why there are temporal arrows and thus explains how it can be that you (via your decisions) can have control over the future although you have no control over the past.

"God" means that you are outside of the system. If you're outside of the system you cannot control it.

The force on a particle tells you how it will move. F=ma

The requirements of free will:

1. Must have rational control over one's decisions and behavior.
2. Could have done otherwise.

The book "One, Two, Three, Infinity" by George Gamow explains how Newtonian mechanics allows for strange things. For example, an ice cube forming out of warm water.

Dr. Loewer recommends the books, "The Character of Physical Law" by Richard Feynman and
"Time and Chance" by David Albert.

Dr. Loewer thinks there is more stuff in the world than physics describes. Our capacity to understand may be limited by the size of our brain.

The definition of a quantum politician - when they adopt a position they lose their momentum

wow......
thank you for sharing.
Knowledge is power and also helps
greatly in the recovery process