[karmakaze]

I myself have gone through a similar line of reasoning. My conclusion however has always been undecided and that the answer lies in an area where I'm not sufficiently versed.

A good thought experiment is to consider the simulation hypothesis. It doesn't require you to believe it, it's just a thought experiment to show a counter example that lies outside of the deduction.

1. We are living in a simulated universe. 2. But our characters are controlled by beings in an outer universe with everything else that follows the laws of physics being programmed.

So in the context of our universe our actions are based on metaphysical mumbo jumbo, inexplicable in our laws of physics. We the avatars are the beings in the outer universe. So we have 'free will' that is not determined by the state of our universe.

Now of course the simulation hypothesis has a turtles all the way down issue, but that's not the point here. The point is to be clear about our terms. When we say deterministic we mean with respect to the laws of our universe. The thought experiment just makes the terms clear and not conflate what's happening in one with all. If you want to make the definition that free will is something that's not deterministic in all universes, that's something different to discuss.

[gpderetta]

It seems that the avatar theory should be falsifiable: does the mind behaves fully accordingly to the laws of phisics (whether deterministically or probabiliatically via quantum effects) or does some unphisical, unaccoutable effect affects it? It should be possible to design an experiment to magnify this effects and test for them, at least in theory.