Re: John Conway, "Free Will Theorem"

From: John M <jamikes.domain.name.hidden>
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 11:25:29 -0400

Stathis:
it is always dangerous (wrong!) to mix deviated cases (sick patients) with
the general (non sick) human (behavioral etc.) concepts.
One thing is even worse: to draw conclusions of such.
I wrote some comments in this thread lately and did not see them being
included in the list-posts. Am I banned from writing to the list?

John Mikes
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stathis Papaioannou" <stathispapaioannou.domain.name.hidden>
To: <everything-list.domain.name.hidden>
Sent: Sunday, April 10, 2005 10:46 PM
Subject: Re: John Conway, "Free Will Theorem"


> Here are some interesting symptoms from sufferers of schizophrenia, which
> may be seen as disorders of free will:
>
> 1. Command auditory hallucinations. The patient hears voices commanding
him
> to do sometimes horrific things, which he feels he *must* obey, and often
> does obey, even though he does not want to. It is not that there is a fear
> of consequences if he disobeys, like Nazi subordinates following orders.
> Rather, the perceived command seems to directly impinge on the
> decision-making centres of the brain, bypassing the frantic efforts of the
> judgement centres to counteract it:
>
> "I heard a voice telling me to strangle my mother... I was terrified, I
> didn't want to do this, but I couldn't resist, I *had* to do it."
>
> 2. Passivity phenomena. This is generally even harder to resist, and hence
> more dangerous, than command auditory hallucinations. The patient
> experiences his body being controlled like a puppet by an external force:
>
> "I was walking down the street when all of a sudden, I felt the satellites
> beaming a force field at me, which took control of my body and made me
throw
> myself in front of the oncoming traffic. I tried to resist, but it was
> impossible."
>
> 3. Catatonia. The patient appears as if paralysed and unresponsive. Asked
> about the experience afterwards, he sometimes explains that he was
actually
> aware of his surroundings, that he felt able to move and speak if he
wanted
> to at any point, but that he did not want to do so, for reasons he cannot
> explain - just a whim. The fact is, catatonic patients are *not* able to
> move, even though they think they are, and could die if not given urgent
> medical care (IV hydration, ECT).
>
> --Stathis Papaioannou
>
Received on Mon Apr 11 2005 - 11:48:00 PDT