causal
Emergence Does Not Make Constituent Parts Freer
Emergent complexity (ants forming colonies, neurons producing consciousness) is real, but every argument deriving free will from emergence smuggles in a false downward causation: it requires the simple building blocks to become 'fancier' or 'freer,' when the whole point of emergence is that the constituent parts remain just as simple and rule-bound as before.
causalpending
Speaker
Robert SapolskyEvidence Quote
“every model that somehow pulls free will out of emergence requires that the building blocks the constituent parts have suddenly gotten fancier and they don't and that's the whole point of it”
Created: 6/14/2026, 2:19:39 AM
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