In episode 34 of the Quantum Consciousness series, Justin Riddle puts forth a defense of freewill. In a deterministic universe guided by physical principles, there is no room for freewill. Surely, we must succumb to the crushing reality that our choices do not matter, that the self is an illusion, and that the very concept of time is illusory – nothing more than a social construct or hallucinations. While this is indeed the typical mainstream opinion on the state of our consciousness, quantum mechanics offers some chance that we could escape from determinism. The Schrodinger’s equation explains that quantum systems evolve into a superposition of multiple different possible futures. Then, upon measurement, the wave function of possibilities collapses into a definitive reality. But this process is apparently random. The stochastic (random) nature of this process leaves room for something beyond pure determinism. Perhaps it is simply probabilistic, and not deterministic, or perhaps there is some chance that consciousness could impose its will on this collapse process. At the very least, if freewill is not illusion, the only apparent room for its influence is at this moment of collapse.

In this episode, we explore three different ways in which freewill could find its way into the collapse of the wave function. In the first model, the superposition provides the choices for possible futures. These choices are given to the mind, and the mind chooses which of these options to collapse into the physical world. Henry Stapp and John von Neumann postulated that this could be the case, but there must be additional checks from nature on this multiple-choice selection process. The second framing is through the quantum Zeno effect, where you have the option to pay attention to some series of thoughts or to let those thoughts go. This ability of “free won’t” could be a way by which the mind is able to influence the rate and timing of collapse of the wave function rather than the actual choice within the probability distribution. The third and final way that is presented is defined as “form will”. In this model, the human mind chooses a set of values, or forms, that are applied to a situation. Instead of choosing a particular behavior or response, the mind applies a flavor of quantum algorithms to the problem and then whatever the resulting output of that quantum computation is will determine the actual actions that are carried out. In all, each of these three manners for freewill to influence the physical world are speculative and require there to be large-scale quantum computers within the brain. In my opinion, these new models of freewill are necessary for us to escape the crushing nihilism that is inherent to a physicalist / determinist reality.