Re: BLUE GENE and confusion about flops and tops and whistles

From: J. Andrew Rogers (andrew@ceruleansystems.com)
Date: Fri Apr 07 2006 - 15:16:12 MDT


On Apr 7, 2006, at 1:22 PM, Philip Goetz wrote:
> It is remarkable in that
> auditory neurons are linked directly to motor neurons, so that a sound
> of a particular frequency can cause the grasshopper to turn toward it,
> apparently without any other neural system intervening. Hence,
> grasshoppers have no free will, at least in this case.

How many other neurons have to be involved in the causal process
before "free will" results? What is the number of terms and links
required to reliably produce "free will" in any given causal chain?

If a system of differential equations gets big enough, does a system
described by those equations develop the ability to produce results
that run contrary to the equations that define it?

J. Andrew Rogers



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