Free Will

What is free will ? IMO that's (so far) the main difference between machines and living objects. And it's more than a technical debate, as it implies that we are just machines and that sophisticated machines could have it too (as an inate property ?).

This article covers what free will might be after all... That's the first time I see it mentioned, while I've been convinced that's a crucial point for the future. If machines can have free will too, then they can decide on their ownn (and without us).

A bevy of experiments in recent years suggest that the conscious mind is like a monkey riding a tiger of subconscious decisions and actions in progress, frantically making up stories about being in control.

“If people freak at evolution, etc.,” he wrote in an e-mail message, “how much more will they freak if scientists and philosophers tell them they are nothing more than sophisticated meat machines, and is that conclusion now clearly warranted or is it premature?”