Determinism makes a difference!
A few years ago, a distinguished philosopher of physics visited a seminar on determinism that I was leading. When asked his opinion of determinism, our distinguished visitor replied that “Nothing much depends on it.”
On the contrary! Granted, the formulas of present-day quantum mechanics don’t depend on the truth or falsity of determinism. Those formulas work whether you interpret them deterministically or indeterministically. But a great many other things do depend on whether determinism is true, as I argue in my book and as I hope to show in this blog.
Just three teasers for now. We have control over our actions and moral responsibility for them only if determinism is true. Only if determinism is true does the universe make sense all the way down. If determinism is true, then whether you and I ever exist depends on the tiniest details about the future, including the exact time and manner of our deaths. And more besides. Stay tuned for the details.
