Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by lidHanteyk 2260 days ago
We can perform some measurements [0] which show that spin exists. So, the 101 lemma used in the Kochen-Specker Theorem is related to existing laboratory experiments, and not just thought experiments. But indeed this doesn't say whether people have free will.

We might instead interpret the Free Will Theorem as demolishing a position otherwise claimed: People have free will, but people are special; most other things don't have free will, and certainly particles don't! But the Free Will Theorem explicitly contradicts this position.

In terms of philosophy, there are several nuances to consider. There's Kochen-Specker itself [1], its untestability and its applications. There's free will itself [2], including whether free will is definable, is useful for ethics, and indeed whether free will exists. I think it's interesting that [2] has no mention whatsoever of [1] or the Free Will Theorem more generally.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stern%E2%80%93Gerlach_experime...

[1] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kochen-specker/

[2] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/freewill/