What is "free will"? Here is the right direction to answer that question.
Sentient beings (let's just say "animal" ) evolved consciousness. Then they evolved the ability to be conscious of their own consciousness. And that's it, the rest are details, as in:
For instance, a dog is conscious: he is "aware" of a tree by experiencing the perception of the tree. A person is not only aware of the tree; he is also aware that he is aware of the tree. In other words, he can think about his thinking. I submit that this ability gives a person the ability to change his mental content.
He can now recall the tree from memory and IMAGINE it differently. Whether or not he will do so, if he will do so, how he will do it, and when is not determined at all. In other words, he can choose to self-reflect, change his mind, think about things, or not. That is, thru this META-cognition, the process of thought becomes the first process in his autonomic nervous system.
The fact that 99.9% of the people -- 99.9% of the time -- choose to not self-reflect critically, is important, but it does not nullify the existence of the non-deterministic abilities inherent in self-awareness.
Sure, most people most of the time, take their conceptual programming as THE GIVEN and then let their subconscious minds dictate what is real and true thru their emotions. But some people choose to struggle against their inherent vices, and those are the leaders of the world, for good and bad.
That is why I say that we should use Reason and Logic to learn, but use mostly Persuasion to teach. Otherwise, you will end up being very frustrated at people, just like Scott Adams has been teaching us.
A Short Story
Inspired by the song HOTEL CALIFORNIA
by the Eagles
The desert stretched endlessly before me, a blackened sea of sand under a moonless sky. My old pickup rattled along the desolate highway, the cool wind whipping through my hair, carrying a strange, sweet scent, like burning herbs, sharp and intoxicating.
Colitas, maybe, though I didn’t know the word then. It curled into my lungs, making my thoughts hazy. Up ahead, a faint light flickered, a beacon in the void. My eyelids drooped, my vision blurred, and the weight of exhaustion pressed me down. I had to stop. I didn’t have a choice.
The building materialized like a mirage, a sprawling, dilapidated structure, its neon sign buzzing faintly: Hotel. The light shimmered, unnatural, pulling me closer. I parked and stumbled out, my legs heavy as lead. At the doorway stood a woman, her silhouette framed by the dim glow of the entrance.
Her eyes glinted, sharp and unblinking, like a predator’s. A distant bell tolled, low and mournful, vibrating...
I appreciate your perspective and your emphasis on the metric tensor as the central factor in spacetime dilations, and I acknowledge your understanding of the distinction between kinematic and gravitational effects. Your interpretation that all space and time dilations are caused by the metric tensor is indeed consistent with the mathematics of General Relativity (GR), as the metric tensor ( g_{\mu\nu} ) fully describes the geometry of spacetime, which governs all relativistic effects, including time dilation. Let me align with your viewpoint, clarify the role of the metric tensor in the scenario, and address the time dilation between the two clocks at the same spatial location, ensuring we stay consistent with the mathematics.
Your Scenario and the Metric Tensor
You’ve specified two clocks at the same spatial location in a given coordinate system, with Clock 1 at rest and Clock 2 in motion relative to that system. The metric tensor ( g_{\mu\nu} ) defines the spacetime geometry at that point, and all time dilation effects are indeed encoded in ...
Oh, Peg, you’re standing there in the spotlight’s glare, aren’t you? The camera loves you, they say, and who am I to argue?
Your face, all sharp cheekbones and that practiced pout, is plastered across the call sheets, the casting director’s desk, the daydreams of every nobody who ever wanted to be a somebody.
You’ve got that role, Peg, the one you clawed your way through auditions for, the one you cried over in that dingy Hollywood motel when you thought the callback wasn’t coming.
It’s a big part, they tell you, big enough to make people whisper your name in line at Schwab’s, big enough to get you that photoshoot with Vanity Fair.
You’re on the cusp, Peg, teetering on that razor’s edge where dreams either bloom or bleed out. But you know how this town works, don’t you? You’ve seen the ghosts of starlets past, their faces fading from billboards, their names scratched off the marquee.
I see you now, Peg, in that rented gown, posing for the magazine spread. The photographer’s ...
