Panel: Quantum Theory and Free Will

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A panel discussion recorded at SAND14 with Chris Fields, Henry Stapp and Donald Hoffman.

Quantum theory incorporates two seemingly-contradictory ideas about free will. On the one hand, an observer can choose both the system to measure and the kind of measurement to make; given these choices, the theory predicts a probability distribution over the possible outcomes and nothing more. It is quantum indeterminism. On the other hand, a system that no one is looking at evolves through time according the dynamics that are perfectly deterministic. No one is “looking at” the universe as a whole – all observers are inside the universe by definition – so the time evolution of the whole universe must be perfectly deterministic. This clash between indeterminism and determinism is sharpened by the existence of a strong theorem, the Conway-Kochen “free will theorem,” that says that if human (or any other kind of) observers are assumed to have free will, everything
else in the universe, even electrons, has to be assumed to have free will, too.

Is this conflict real, or might it dissolve on further analysis? This panel will examine some of the strikingly different views advanced by physicists on this question, illuminating the concept and role of entanglement in the process.

#64 AI and the Global Brain

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Trying to wrap our minds, hearts, and bodies around the rapidly evolving field of AI

It All Goes Down in Your Mind

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Gabor weaving Johnny Cash and the Buddhist 'Dhammapada'

#63 Ancestral Constellations

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Efu discussed her methods integrating ancestral wisdom from her Snail Clan in Tanzania, somatic therapy, and family constellations

Gaza and the Human Soul

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Presidential candidate Cornel West and author Gabor Maté met for the first time this week to discuss the horrors of Israel’s war on Gaza.

Decolonizing Science

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We are witnessing a resurgence of indigenous knowledge and growing acknowledgement of its scientific value worldwide

Healing Trauma Through Collective Meditation

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How Buddhist meditation and mindfulness practices, in combination with more traditional forms of therapy, can help to heal individual and collective trauma

Reflection on Current Events

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Weaving the current crisis in Palestine with timeless spiritual wisdom

A Call for Healing: Gabor Maté on Palestine/Israel

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Wisdom 2.0 interview with Gabor Maté on Palestine / Israel

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