Neurocognitive basis for free will set out for the first time

[Jim__]

From MedicalXpress:

...

Professor Thomas Hills from the Department of Psychology set out to bridge the gap between the philosophical arguments for free will and the neurocognitive realities.

In philosophy, elements of free will include the ability to do otherwise—the 'principle of alternative possibilities'; the ability to deliberate; a sense of self; and the ability to maintain goals – 'wanting what you want."

Drawing on examples from making a morning coffee to taking a penalty kick, and considering organisms from human beings, e-coli, cockroaches, and even robots, Professor Hills argues that our neurocognitive abilities satisfy these requirements through:

1. Adaptive access to unpredictability
   
2. Tuning of this unpredictability to help us reach high-level goals
   
3. Goal-directed deliberation via search over internal cognitive representations
   
4. A role for conscious construction of the self in the generation and choice of alternatives.
   

more ...

The actual paper is here