[Avodah] Free Will vs. Physics

[Zev Sero]

kennethgmiller at juno.com wrote:

> Consider this: A one-minute-old infant was not crying, and now starts
> to cry. This is not the result of any decision he made, but is a
> reflexive/instinctive reaction to certain influences.

I don't think even a newborn is an automaton, so that its crying or not
crying is the deterministic result of known inputs.  I think even a
newborn has free will, and decides whether to cry or not.  It isn't a
*reasoned* decision, but it's a decision nonetheless, in a way that's
completely different from that of a machine.  What improves over time
is the person's ability to reason, and thus to make decisions that have
some design, and serve some purpose.

-- 
Zev Sero               Something has gone seriously awry with this Court's
zev at sero.name          interpretation of the Constitution.
                       	                          - Clarence Thomas