Free Will - Part II

We saw that free will is the power to chose whether we wish to follow our programming or not. While Part 1 were mostly Stephen's thoughts, Part 2 is my own extension of the concept.

The talk of only humans having free will got me thinking. Not only do animals not have this power to choose their programming, they are not even aware that this programming exists. So what changed so drastically from animals to humans? How did we evolve free will? Its obvios as to why we evolved it. Creatures with free will had infinitely larger capabilities than ones which didn't so naturally, selection favoured them. But I was more interested in knowing how this transition was made in the first place. What is fundamentally different in the programming of a human compared to an animal? More specifically, if I am to code a robot with free will, what would be the nature of that code? How do I program free will?

But wait a minute! What did I just say? Code free will into a robot? Program it? Can free will be a programmed thing? Can I program a robot to not follow its programming? This opens up a can of paradoxes, which can be philosohically very stimulating. Very similar to a sentence which proclaims itself to be false... a liar who calls himself a liar... a law saying that all laws are meant to be broken.

But these paradoxes apart, I feel it might just be possible to teach a robot free will, if not code it.

To be continued...

Free Will - Part I

Stephen R. Covey died on the 16th of this month. He was the writer of the famous personal management book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The news of his death was a small feature in the newspaper. Yet it caught my attention because coincidentally, I happen to be reading his book these past few weeks. I am still reading the introduction to the 7 Habits and am finding it very insightful already. In this introduction, one of the many things Stephen talks of is human nature and behavior, and the factors which determine it.

He lists what he calls the 3 determinsims of human nature:

• Genetic determinism, which says that I do something because its in my genes.
• Psychic determinism, which means that I do something because I have been raised to or taught to do it.
• Environmental determinism, which means that I do something because I have been forced or shaped to do so by my environment.

All of human behavior is a combination of these 3 factors. Stephen goes on to argue that these 3 factors exist in not just humans but even in animals and what separates us from animals is our ability to choose our response. We can choose what combination of these 3 factors will affect our response in a particular situation. This choice is what we call free will. This separates us from other animals.

Stephen compares this to the programming of a robot. These deterministic factors are like the programming which govern out behavior. But we are different from robots in the sense that we are aware of this programming and have the power to choose whether we want to follow it or not. This is what makes us more than animals or robots. This is what makes us human, with an infinite range of capabilities, able to perform concious actions and having the ability to own the responsibility for the same.

To be continued...


-TheDreamer

Zombies

I can see zombies.
You don't believe me?
I really can see the walking dead
as they walk beside me.

Without dreams, without morals.
Eyes fixed in an endless stare
Opening their foul mouths,
of their stench of fear unaware.

Saying things that make no sense.
Walking aimlessly, endlessly.
Waiting for their lives to end.
Not understanding they are dead already,
they roam, Zombies all around me.

-TheDreamer

(Life really has a cruel sense of humour. It so happened that hours after writing this poem, by pure happenstance and out of sheer boredom, I randomly picked a movie to watch. That movie turned out to be Shaun of the Dead. After seeing it, I wish I hadn't written this poem!)

One Battle at a Time

I'm ready to fight,
in the war of life.
To find freedom and glory,
through struggle and strife.

I'm ready to sacrifice,
everything for that dream.
To churn my fate,
till I make butter out of cream.

But to give my all,
to that one fight,
all I ask from this world,
in the form of this rhyme-
Allow me to fight,
one battle at a time,
only one battle at a time.

-TheDreamer

NO CHOICE BUT TO DO GOOD

Saw The Amazing Spiderman today. I had loved the 3 old Spidey movies and yet, I feel that this reboot of the franchise is a league apart from the older version and lives up to its title by truly being amazing. Beautiful cinematography and a realistic story-line take away the show, not to mention, a bolder, younger and more energetic Peter Parker who has the guts to tell his girlfriend how he spends his free time. Not like the old Spidey who took 2 complete movies to do that. The experience of the movie was only enhanced by the fact that I had for company, my class 10th buddys from Bangalore - Akash Pise and Shweta Kumari. I also got a chance to make two new friends in Manwinder Singh and Abhishek Saini. Thanks guys (and gal), for an enjoyable evening!

The movie is definitely worth a watch and all the more so if you watch it in 3D in a theatre. The film's storyline does depart from the older versions of the Spidey chronicles at many places. What interested me most was the key teaching of the movie. In the old movie, Ben Parker say to his nephew - "With great power, comes great responsibility." This statement very much defines Spiderman and his work as a superhero in the rest of the series. In The Amazing Spiderman, the teaching is similar in spirit but is worded differently. Uncle Ben says - "If you can do someone some good, you should do it. Because if you can, then it is no more a choice. It becomes a responsibility." It is not worded as poetically as the older version and yet, this wording hit me with a greater impact. I liked it a lot. What a nice thought, I said to myself. How simple a formula for being a good person! Yet in no way an easy task. It basically tells you to do all the good you can to this world.

I was also struck by the similarity of this thought with Asimov's First Law of Robotics: "A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." Asimov himself suggested that these laws of robotics are in fact the laws of ideal human behavior. An ideal human would follow this law. He will never let any harm come to another human being, even through inaction. The inaction part is crucial. That is where most of us decent folks fail. As my Dad says, most people pass by a road-side aciident in their cars without stopping and only after going a distance, think back - maybe I should have stopped, maybe I could have helped the poor man. But by then its too late and they just whizz past in thier automobile. But the ones which stop, and that too in time, reflect a hope for our society, and show their realisation of their responsibilities and are the men and women who make the difference.

-TheDreamer

THE ARCHIE DILEMMA

I saw Cocktail today with my family. First things first, to quench your curiosity, let me tell you that it is an entertaining movie made for college crowds and not bad for a one-time watch. The problem is its plot is way too familiar for regular Hindi movie and television serial watchers. It presents the same old Archie's Dilemma- a guy confused between the 'rich bitch' and the sweet girl, leading to a predictable love triangle with no new solution presented in the movie. This same predicament is represented in many other popular stories in different forms, be it Archie Andrews or Elena Gilbert. It is a classic dilemma- the dilemma between listening to what you desire and what is best for you. Do you choose the girl who is a better girlfriend or the one who will be a better wife? Do you listen to your heart or your mind? Do you go after what you like or after what is best for you? To you take up a profession which you are passionate about or a profession which will pay better?
The solution to this dilemma isn't very simple (that's why its called a dilemma) and is very much situation and person dependent. A pragmatist would preach that what is required is a balance between the two- between the Veronicas and Bettys of this world. Marry a girl that is rich and intelligent as well as beautiful and caring. Get a job that is your passion as well as high-paying. Interestingly, a Zen master would give you a different solution. He would ask you to remove the root cause of the dilemma. He'll tell you that your desires and your interests should not conflict at all to begin with. He'll say, remove thy conflict and thy dilemma shall vanish.

What do you usually do? Do you listen to your heart or my mind? Which is the fun thing to do? Which is the right thing to follow? Archie Dilemmas are common, we experience them everywhere. Our everyday problems are Archie Dilemmas in disguise and we need to solve them. So, do we listen to the pragmatist or the Zen master? Settle for a compromise between the two extremes or remove the conflict which made you like two extremes in the first place? That, my friends, is a question that  only you can answer for yourselves because, as always, we have landed ourselves into an Archie Dilemma.

-TheDreamer

The Sole Diamond

(Should a man leave behind his addictions? Habits that give him joy? Yes he'll be free. But what will he do of that freedom if he cannot be happy?)

He owned a stone.
It was a red diamond.
It was larger than any diamond in the land.
It was blood red in colour.
Diamonds are clourlessin when pure.
But this diamond was red.
A big, red diamond it was.
He loved the diamond.
Light sparkled through its many facets.
Creating an aura around it.
The aura was something.
It was something that could not be described.
The aura of the diamond was quite something.
He loved the aura.
He loved the diamond.
Its brilliance was beautiful.
Its beauty was radiant.
He cared for the diamond.
He carried it with him.
He never let it out of his sight.
He never let anyone see it.
He never let anyone touch it.
He touched it.
He caressed it.
He kissed it.
He loved it.
He took it everywhere.
He was in love with it.
He could not live without it.
He was addicted to it.
He loved it so much.
The diamond was his life.
And he decided to give it his life.
The diamond gave him joy.
The diamond gave him fulfilment.
He too gave to the diamond.
He gave it his soul.
He gave it his life.
He cast a spell.
His soul escaped him.
It was trapped in the stone.
He put it there.
His soul in his stone.
His life in his diamond.
His joy in his precious.
His everything in that something.
The bond was thus strengthened.
He fell in deeper love.
The stone was his world.
It lit his dark and twisted soulless insides.
He depended on it.
To be by his side.
To sustain his existence.
To exist for his sake.
And for his sake alone.
He never felt alone.
With the diamond close by.
He loved it so much.
He loved it a lot.
He loved it.
He was addicted to it.
He could never take his eyes away.
Off the diamond for an instant.
He was scared.
Scared that something would happen.
The diamond would go.
So he kept himself near it.
He kept himself close.
He kept himself bound.
And in time, he was bound.
He was so bound, he hated it.
His hate drew him mad.
He had no freedom.
And in his hate he loved his diamond.
He loved it as never before.
The diamond that had his soul.
He was done with it.
He could take it no more.
He could give it no more.
Nothing was like before.
He raised it high.
And smashd it on the floor.
It shattered.
It broke.
It split into a million pieces all sparkling on the floor.
He had ended the stone.
The stone was over.
The stone which had his soul.
The soul was over.
The game was up.
He had destroyed the stone.
And yet, he was sad.
He was unhappy.
He had ended hs addition.
He was free now.
But he had also ended his only joy.
He was sad too.
He was free too.
He was free to be sad.
Sad forever after.
His everything gone.
Destroyed, shattered to pieces.
Broken to splinters.
And he wept sitting there.
Crying on the floor.
He wept like a baby.
'Cause from what he knew.
Diamonds never broke.
No diamond ever broke.

-TheDreamer