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Free Will

TagLast edit: Oct 1, 2020, 2:13 AM by Ruby

Free will is one of the easiest hard questions, as millennia-old philosophical dilemmas go. Though this impossible question is generally considered fully and completely dissolved on Less Wrong, aspiring reductionists should try to solve it on their own.

Non-spoiler posts

The following posts can be read to set up the problem of “free will” and what constitutes a good solution from a reductionist perspective, without entirely giving away the solution. (When Yudkowsky wrote these posts, he thought he could get away with just leaving it as a practice problem, and some of the posts state that the problem will be left open. However Yudkowsky did eventually find that he needed to write out the whole solution.)

For spoiler posts see free will (solution).

See also

Free Will as Un­solv­abil­ity by Rivals

PavitraMar 28, 2011, 3:28 AM
25 points
11 comments2 min readLW link

[Question] Some ques­tions about free will compatibilism

Asking QuestionsJan 24, 2023, 9:54 PM
3 points
21 comments6 min readLW link

[In­tu­itive self-mod­els] 3. The Homunculus

Steven ByrnesOct 2, 2024, 3:20 PM
78 points
38 comments25 min readLW link

[In­tu­itive self-mod­els] 8. Root­ing Out Free Will Intuitions

Steven ByrnesNov 4, 2024, 6:16 PM
70 points
16 comments24 min readLW link

Is Free Will A Myth?

Precious Oluwatobi EmmanuelJan 1, 2021, 8:56 PM
0 points
4 comments3 min readLW link

[Question] What is it like to be a com­pat­i­bil­ist?

tslarmMay 5, 2023, 2:56 AM
8 points
72 comments1 min readLW link

Free will as an ap­pear­ance to others

Yuxi_LiuMay 22, 2019, 11:57 PM
12 points
21 comments2 min readLW link

Free will isn’t a con­cept (un­less you mean de­ter­minism)

KatjaGraceJul 15, 2007, 1:51 PM
3 points
1 comment1 min readLW link

Dis­solu­tion of free will as a call to action

Dr_ManhattanMay 24, 2011, 12:41 PM
10 points
11 comments1 min readLW link

The scope of “free will” within biol­ogy?

Jay_SchweikertJun 29, 2011, 6:34 AM
21 points
30 comments3 min readLW link

Separate moral­ity from free will

PhilGoetzApr 10, 2011, 2:35 AM
8 points
85 comments5 min readLW link

[link] Scott Aaron­son on free will

DanielVargaJun 10, 2013, 11:24 PM
32 points
109 comments1 min readLW link

How would not hav­ing free will feel to you?

ShmiJun 20, 2013, 8:51 PM
12 points
70 comments1 min readLW link

My sum­mary of Eliezer’s po­si­tion on free will

SolventFeb 28, 2012, 5:53 AM
20 points
100 comments2 min readLW link

[Question] What is the sub­jec­tive ex­pe­rience of free will for agents?

Gordon Seidoh WorleyApr 2, 2020, 3:53 PM
10 points
19 comments1 min readLW link

Book re­view: The Im­por­tance of What We Care About (Harry G. Frank­furt)

David GrossSep 13, 2023, 4:17 AM
7 points
0 comments4 min readLW link

Beliefs as emo­tional strategies

Kaj_SotalaApr 9, 2021, 2:28 PM
75 points
4 comments8 min readLW link

A cog­ni­tive al­gorithm for “free will.”

DirectedEvolutionJul 14, 2021, 9:33 PM
25 points
27 comments3 min readLW link

[Question] Choice := An­throp­ics un­cer­tainty? And po­ten­tial im­pli­ca­tions for agency

Antoine de ScorrailleApr 21, 2022, 4:38 PM
6 points
1 comment1 min readLW link

[Question] How to deal with the sense of de­mo­ti­va­tion that comes from think­ing about de­ter­minism?

SpectrumDTFeb 7, 2024, 10:53 AM
13 points
71 comments1 min readLW link

Cog­ni­tive In­sta­bil­ity, Phys­i­cal­ism, and Free Will

dadadarrenJul 16, 2022, 1:13 PM
5 points
27 comments2 min readLW link
(www.sleepingbeautyproblem.com)

Quotes and Notes on Scott Aaron­son’s “The Ghost in the Quan­tum Tur­ing Ma­chine”

ShmiJun 17, 2013, 5:11 AM
31 points
83 comments15 min readLW link

Is so­cial the­ory our doom?

pchvykovJul 15, 2021, 3:31 AM
6 points
2 comments2 min readLW link

“Free Will” in a Com­pu­ta­tional Universe

DragonGodSep 22, 2022, 9:25 PM
5 points
6 comments14 min readLW link

“Who’s In Charge? Free Will and the Science of the Brain”

David GrossSep 16, 2021, 2:38 AM
10 points
6 comments4 min readLW link

Book Re­view: Free Will

Ape in the coatOct 11, 2021, 6:41 PM
28 points
23 comments8 min readLW link

Agency en­g­ineer­ing: is AI-al­ign­ment “to hu­man in­tent” enough?

catubcSep 2, 2022, 6:14 PM
9 points
10 comments6 min readLW link

Fixed points and free will

Ege ErdilApr 19, 2022, 5:18 PM
31 points
32 comments4 min readLW link

Free Will, Deter­minism, And Choice

Zero ContradictionsJul 6, 2024, 6:34 AM
7 points
3 comments1 min readLW link
(thewaywardaxolotl.blogspot.com)

Emer­gent Author­ship: Creativity à la Communing

gswonkSep 14, 2024, 7:02 PM
1 point
0 comments3 min readLW link

[Question] Me & My Clone

SimonBaarsJul 18, 2024, 4:25 PM
27 points
22 comments1 min readLW link

Unal­igned AGI & Brief His­tory of Inequality

ankFeb 22, 2025, 4:26 PM
−18 points
4 comments7 min readLW link

A crit­i­cal agen­tial ac­count of free will, cau­sa­tion, and physics

jessicataMar 5, 2020, 7:57 AM
25 points
10 comments12 min readLW link
(unstableontology.com)

Pass­ing the Re­cur­sive Buck

Eliezer YudkowskyJun 16, 2008, 4:50 AM
49 points
17 comments4 min readLW link

Wager­ing on Will And Worth (Pas­cals Wager for Free Will and Value)

Robert CousineauNov 27, 2024, 12:43 AM
−1 points
2 comments3 min readLW link

(My) self-refer­en­tial rea­son to be­lieve in free will

jacekJan 6, 2025, 11:35 PM
12 points
6 comments1 min readLW link

[un­ti­tled post]

EmreJan 15, 2025, 6:52 PM
−1 points
0 comments1 min readLW link

Tether­ware #1: The case for hu­man­like AI with free will

Jáchym FibírJan 30, 2025, 10:58 AM
5 points
11 comments10 min readLW link
(tetherware.substack.com)

Will is­sues are quite nearly skill issues

dkl9Aug 27, 2023, 4:42 PM
1 point
1 comment3 min readLW link
(dkl9.net)

Where Free Will and Deter­minism Meet

David BravoApr 4, 2023, 10:59 AM
0 points
0 comments3 min readLW link

Book Re­view: Deter­mined by Sapolsky

Kailuo WangNov 1, 2023, 5:37 PM
1 point
0 comments7 min readLW link

The Unavoid­able Ex­pe­rience of Free Will in a Deter­minis­tic World

gmaxNov 3, 2023, 5:55 PM
−10 points
0 comments2 min readLW link

Non­sen­tient Optimizers

Eliezer YudkowskyDec 27, 2008, 2:32 AM
35 points
48 comments6 min readLW link

Why Free Will is NOT an illusion

Akira PyinyaJan 1, 2023, 2:29 AM
0 points
16 comments1 min readLW link
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