I am excited to report that my paper, "A New Theory of Free Will", has been accepted for publication in The Philosophical Forum. Here is the abstract:
This paper shows that the conjunction of several live philosophical and scientific hypotheses – including the holographic principle and multiverse theory in quantum physics, and eternalism and mind-body dualism in philosophy – jointly imply an audacious new theory of free will. This new theory, "Libertarian Compatibilism", holds that the physical world is an eternally existing array of two-dimensional information – a vast number of possible pasts, presents, and futures – and the mind a nonphysical entity or set of properties that "read" that physical information off to subjective conscious awareness (in much the same way that a song written on an ordinary compact-disc is only played when read by an outside medium, i.e. a CD-player). According to this theory, every possible physical “timeline” in the multiverse may be fully physically deterministic or physically-causally closed but each person’s consciousness still entirely free to choose, ex nihilo, outside of the physical order, which physically-closed timeline is experienced by conscious observers.
Although Libertarian Compatibilism is admittedly fantastic, I show that it not only follows from several live scientific and philosophical hypotheses, I also show that it (A) is a far more explanatorily powerful model of quantum mechanics than more traditional interpretations (e.g. the Copenhagen, Everett, and Bohmian interpretations), (B) makes determinate, testable empirical predictions in quantum theory, and finally, (C) predicts and explains the very existence of a number of philosophical debates and positions in the philosophy of mind, time, personal identity, and free will. First, I show that whereas traditional interpretations of quantum mechanics are all philosophically problematic and roughly as ontologically “extravagant” as Libertarian Compatibilism – in that they all posit “unseen” processes – Libertarian Compatibilism is nearly identical in structure to the only working simulation that human beings have ever constructed capable of reproducing (and so explaining) every general feature of quantum mechanics we perceive: namely, massive-multiplayer-online-roleplaying videogames (or MMORPGs). Although I am not the first to suggest that our world is akin to a computer simulation, I show that existing MMORPGs (online simulations we have already created) actually reproduce every general feature of quantum mechanics within their simulated-world reference-frames. Second, I show that existing MMORPGs also replicate (and so explain) many philosophical problems we face in the philosophy of mind, time, personal identity, and free will – all while conforming to the Libertarian Compatibilist model of reality.
I conclude, as such, that as fantastic and metaphysically extravagant as Libertarian Compatibilism may initially seem, it may well be true. It explains a number of features of our reality that no other physical or metaphysical theory does.
I'll post a penultimate version of the paper in due course (I'm a bit reluctant to do so at the moment, as I'm not sure how publishers feel about this practice -- but I wanted to report the news, especially in light of this report that a handful of physicists at the University of Bonn have developed a method for possibly testing the universe-as-simulation theory. Might physics demonstrate the truth of Libertarian Compatibilism? Only time will tell.;)
Congratulations!
Posted by: Chike Jeffers | 10/15/2012 at 09:35 PM
Congrats, Marcus. It sounds like quite a paper!
Posted by: David Morrow | 10/15/2012 at 10:59 PM
Thanks!
Posted by: Marcus Arvan | 10/16/2012 at 08:52 AM
Congratulations!
Posted by: Moti Mizrahi | 10/16/2012 at 11:35 AM
Congratulations! Looks really interesting.
Posted by: Kyle Whyte | 10/16/2012 at 12:41 PM
Thanks again everyone! I'm presently in the process of final revisions, but will post a final draft as soon as I'm done.
Posted by: Marcus Arvan | 10/16/2012 at 01:49 PM
Sounds pretty fun. Congrats!
Posted by: Brad Cokelet | 10/16/2012 at 01:59 PM
That is indeed a paper.
Posted by: Cecil Burrow | 10/16/2012 at 11:00 PM