A Quantum Approach to the Question of Free Will

What is free will? The answer to this question depends on who you ask. Philosophers, scientists and theologians have been arguing about free will for centuries.  Although they’ve come up with hundreds of variations, their theories boil down to a few basic ideas.

1. If free will exists, it’s a thought process.
2. Free will is the ability to have intentions and choose between alternatives.
3. Free will is not generally considered the same as free action. You might intend to eat and choose what you want to eat, but if there’s no food available, you aren’t free to carry out the action of eating.
4. Humans either have intent and choice or they don’t. If they don’t, there are factors in play that supersede and direct intent and choices.

It may seem obvious to you that humans have both intent and choice, but let’s take a brief look at some of the arguments posed against free will:

• Fatalism, destiny, and predestination share the common belief that whatever happens, has to happen because nothing else can happen. We can’t influence anything, including your own actions, so we might as well accept the inevitable.
• Determinism is the belief that what’s happening to you today is the result of things that happened in the past. Determinism relies on cause and effect. Very simply put, the tree that fell on your car yesterday determines that you will ride the bus today. Determinists think that human action does play a role in creating the cause, but the effect is still inevitable. Most proponents of determinism believe that cause and effect are so far removed from each other; we don’t see the connection and falsely believe we do have free will.

Determinism takes on many forms, but here are a few of the most common:

• Scientific determinism is based on the theory that conditions existing at a certain point during the evolution of the universe established a set of natural laws that determines the future. Physicist Stephen Hawking claims that all human behavior is “governed by the laws of physics and chemistry and therefore are as determined as the obits of the planets.”[i]
• Biological determinism says that our intentions and choices are fixed by our genetic makeup. For example, you think you fell in love with a particular person because of their stellar personal qualities, but you actually chose them because you’re genetically engineered to subconsciously choose the person who most likely will reproduce and keep your genetic line going. (On the other hand, many biologists feel that genes can influence behavior, but they generally don’t dictate it.)
• Theological determinism is filled with paradox. Religious leaders claim that God’s will takes precedence; therefore, God determines everything that happens. But religious leaders also claim that God gave humans free will, and it’s this “gift” that makes humans morally accountable. In this context, free will includes free action since God uses free will to hold us accountable for our thoughts and actions. But in this case, free will and action are limited by the threat of punishment. Since only one course of intent, choice or action is acceptable to God; can we really say we have free will?  And, if God determines everything that happens, we sin because God wants us to sin. We’re punished because God wants to punish us. If God’s will takes precedence, we might reasonably wonder why God doesn’t will good instead of evil.

A Quantum Approach to Free Will

Fatalism, predestination, destiny and determinism have all been dealt a death blow by quantum physics. Why? Each of these belief systems is built on an unmovable foundation or inflexible set of laws, but physicists have discovered that we live in a universe of potential and probabilities. There are laws that govern the operation of the universe, but those laws allow for a wide range of eventualities. This fluidity supports the concept of free will in some very surprising ways.

As you’ll see, the material world and the quantum (subatomic) world appear to operate in extremely different ways. In the material world we can closely determine outcomes that we can measure, and we can pinpoint locations. But in the quantum world, outcomes and locations can’t be predicted or determined with certainty. This is true for several reasons:

• At its most elemental level, the universe is one thing: a seething field of interdependent, indivisible energy. Subatomic particles, like the cells of the body, have no meaning if they’re isolated from one another.
• Subatomic particles are considered non-local. They have no specific location and can only be described as having a tendency to be in a particular place. Knowing the location of a subatomic particle would be like knowing the exact location of a drop of water in the ocean.

And most important to the subject of free will:

• Subatomic particles remain in a state of “potential” until they are observed or measured.

Scientists used to believe that an experiment was valid only when the experiment could be repeated by anyone and have the same result. They were shocked to discover that the outcome of quantum experiments depended on the outcome the experimenter was looking for. In fact, until the experimenter decided what they wanted to look for, the subatomic particles remained in a state of potential. This is significant because it means that subatomic particles are conscious. In fact, quantum scientists have discovered that consciousness permeates everything in existence.

Scientists called material realists believe only matter exists. They claim consciousness evolved from matter and is simply a brain function that’s just another form of matter. If that were true, it might seem reasonable to think that humans are governed by natural laws, chemistry or genetics and free will is impossible. However, material realists have been unable to explain how consciousness could have evolved. (And frankly, since the evolution of the smallest living creature is mathematically impossible, where does that leave something as incredibly complex as consciousness?) Since consciousness permeates everything that exists, many scientists feel that consciousness was present first and interacted with quantum potential to bring the material universe into existence. This scenario not only supports intent and choice, it requires it.

Although we’ve been taught that consciousness is a brain function, scientists are discovering that the brain is little more than a computer, a sophisticated receiver for consciousness that exists outside space/time. In this scenario, consciousness affects energy at the subatomic level and collapses potential into material form, not the other way around.  In other words, conscious intention and choice created the universe and keeps it running, so free will is an essential component of the universe.  Let’s look at an experiment that proves the point.

In the material world we assume that the universe has a history that’s made up of a particular series of events that can’t be altered. If we reject free will we need this to be true since some stable force or natural laws must be controlling us, and that would result in a stable history. Although this appears to be a reasonable assumption, it doesn’t hold up at the quantum level. Physicist John Wheeler’s delayed choice experiment demonstrates that not even history is immune from conscious intent and choice.

Remember that subatomic particles respond to the outcome desired by the experimenter. Wheeler wanted to know what would happen if an experimenter made a different choice after light particles had already gone past a point of no return.  Wheeler found that the particles acted retroactively and gave the result that was chosen when it was too late to change the result! Wheeler effectively demonstrated that the past is not set. It remains in a state of potential that can be acted on by consciousness at any time.  This could mean that all potential outcomes (every possible history) exist and we observe the one we choose to observe, or, it could mean that only the potential outcomes acted on by consciousness exist. Either way, the intention and choices that describe free will are necessary components.

How is Free Will Affecting YOUR Life?

We can think about intentions and choices in terms of our day-to-day life, but free will is affecting you in ways that probably go beyond your wildest imagination. When you understand how far-reaching free will actually has been in your life, you may be inspired to think very differently about your intentions and choices. You’ve just learned that the quantum level of the universe operates in a manner that seems counter-intuitive to the material world, and you’ve discovered that consciousness exists outside your brain. But you may be surprised to learn just how much affect these concepts have on your free will.

If consciousness (the mind) exists outside time/space, where are you? Where are your intentions created and your choices taking place? Are you the mind that exists outside space/time, or are you the body that exists in the material world? Physicist David Bohm realized that our universe exists at two levels, one level is real and the other level is a virtual reality. If we jump to the conclusion that the visible world of matter is real, we would be incorrect. Our world is a virtual reality projected from consciousness much as a movie is projected on a screen using film and a projector. Consciousness and energy that make up the quantum level are the only reality.  Nothing we see here is real, but it is all the result of choice made at the conscious level.

Why does the universe work this way? Everything is the universe, including our projected virtual reality, is one thing. Many physicists now feel that this “one thing” is Ultimate Reality. In other words, “God” and the universe are synonymous. At the quantum level there are no separate forms and everything operates as an interconnected whole. Like a body, it cannot support a war within itself and still survive. For consciousness to truly have free will there had to be a safe way for the choice of separation to be made. Instead of ripping apart the universe, consciousness harmlessly projects duality, the foundation of separation and specialness.

From the quantum perspective, there is no doubt that free will exists. In fact, choice plays an indispensable role in the foundation of the universe. Because consciousness has free choice, we can continue projecting virtual reality as long as we wish. On the other hand, we’re also free to stop anytime we wish and wake up to reality. We do have free will, the choice is ours.

To learn more about how the synergy of science and spirituality can transform your life, read The Beginning of Fearlessness: Quantum Prodigal Son

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