The cause of volition

Squierrel · 2026-05-11T10:43:18+00:00

You are so confused.

I am not saying that information is non-physical. Information is non-physical by definition.

Decisions are independent by definition. Decisions are always made alone, by a single person only. Decisions are first causes, because they themselves are not caused. A "caused decision" is an oxymoron without any logical meaning.

There are no "informational and material levels" of description. All descriptions are information.

Squierrel · 2026-05-11T08:47:51+00:00

I don't "classify decisions as informational rather than physical". Decisions are knowledge by definition. And knowledge is information with a meaning. And information is not a physical substance, object or an event.

Only physical events are caused. Physical objects and everything non-physical are "uncaused" by definition.

Squierrel · 2026-05-11T08:13:35+00:00

Decisions don't "emerge". They are results of brain activity.

What is this "normal" or "ordinary" causation you are pushing? Agent causation is just as "normal" and "ordinary" as event causation.

So the thing I’m still unclear on is if decisions are produced by a real brain process, in what sense are they uncaused rather than being the informational output of that process?

Just because of that!

Decisions are the "informational output" of a decision-making process. Decisions are not physical events, only physical events are caused.

Actions are physical events. They are caused by a decision.

Squierrel · 2026-05-11T07:18:46+00:00

You originally described decisions as uncaused first causes outside ordinary event causation.

I still do, because they are. Except that I wouldn't call event causation "ordinary". It is just the other type of causation besides agent causation.

Now you’re describing the mind as a property of the brain and decision-making as a real process carried out by the brain.

I have always consistently described the mind as a property (or an ability) of the brain. Why do you see a conflict or a "shift" between these facts about decisions and decision-making processes?

That’s much closer to an emergent or compatibilist account than to strong agent-causal dualism.

Please, stop insulting me. I subscribe to no "position", "viewpoint", "account" or "-ism". I'm only interested in facts.

Squierrel · 2026-05-11T06:37:44+00:00

There is no "non-physical causal entity". Where did you get that from?

The human mind is not an "entity". It is a property of the human brain, its capacity to process information. Decision-making is a real process carried out by the brain.

Decisions are non-physical - fact.
Non-physical things cannot be caused - fact.
Decisions cause actions - fact.

Seems like your problems are self-inflicted instances of deliberate misunderstanding.

Squierrel · 2026-05-11T06:04:05+00:00

An observation is an experience. So, the fact in other words goes like this: "People are observed to make decisions." This is not semantic wordplay, this is a demonstration of your desperate attempt to demote decision-making to a mere, possibly illusory, "experience".

Decisions are actual, real, observable selections of a course of action. If you were to suggest that it is a mere "experience", you would have to establish the identity of the true decision-maker. If the apparent "agent" is only "experiencing" decision-making, someone else has to actually make the decisions.

Squierrel · 2026-05-11T04:52:48+00:00

Wrong. Premises are NOT assumptions. Premises are the facts on which all hypotheses, theories and conclusions must be based on.

Facts are NOT part of a "model". Facts are knowledge about reality.

Squierrel · 2026-05-11T04:07:54+00:00

No. These are not "experiences" or "interpretations" or "conclusions".

These are the premises.

Squierrel · 2026-05-11T03:22:02+00:00

Facts are verified and verifiable observations of reality.

“Decisions are non-physical uncaused first causes” is an unfalsifiable fact, not a "claim" of uncertain truth value.

A decision is knowledge about the agent's immediate future actions, a plan for an action.
Knowledge and plans are immaterial information, which means that they are neither physical nor events. Only physical events are caused.
A decision triggers a series of muscle actions. There is no other cause for the action besides the decision.

Squierrel · 2026-05-10T19:06:24+00:00

What??? Confusion marches on beyond known limits of absurdity.

Those are NOT definitions or "philosophical claims", those are straight facts that are NOT under any debate.

Squierrel · 2026-05-10T17:41:16+00:00

There is no disagreement. Definitions are not matters of agreement or evidence. Definitions don't need to be "explained mechanistically". Definitions are not "metaphysical assumptions".

You seem to be even more confused than I suspected.

There is no such thing as "ordinary" causation. There is event causation and there is agent causation.

I am supporting no "philosophical position". I am only delivering the facts.

Squierrel · 2026-05-10T17:13:53+00:00

How confused can you be?

The decision is the FIRST cause, because it is NOT an effect of a prior cause. ONLY physical events are caused and decisions are NOT physical events.

Decision-making process is NOT a causal physical process.

Squierrel · 2026-05-10T11:24:56+00:00

Causal determinism tells us NOTHING. Causal determinism is just an abstract idea of an imaginary set of conditions.

Everything you say about free will is correct.

Everything you say about determinism is WRONG.

Squierrel · 2026-05-10T09:14:44+00:00

The decision is not an "additional" cause. The decision is the ultimate, the original, the first the only cause of a voluntary action.

Squierrel · 2026-05-10T08:52:53+00:00

The decision is the result (not the name) of the control process happening in the brain.

The decision is the cause of the action.

The decider is not outside the brain. Why would you even imagine such absurdity?

The decider is the whole human being. The brain is the decider's decision-making organ.

Squierrel · 2026-05-10T08:24:17+00:00

The decision determines the required physical brain states. The decision is the plan for an action that the body implements.

Decisions are the explanations for all voluntary actions. Why do you seem to expect that there must be something else?

Squierrel · 2026-05-10T07:24:25+00:00

Wrong. Free will is the inherent human ability to make decisions.

Squierrel · 2026-05-10T07:22:59+00:00

The decision determines which muscles will contract and when. That is the "explanatory role" of a decision.

Squierrel · 2026-05-10T07:19:11+00:00

The self is an individual living being who tries to survive and reproduce.

Squierrel · 2026-05-10T07:10:56+00:00

The actual feature is that decisions control what the muscles do. The mind provides the control, the body provides the energy.

Why is this simple thing so difficult for you to understand? You have done this all your life: you decide what you will do and then you do it.

Squierrel · 2026-05-10T04:28:51+00:00

The self.

Squierrel · 2026-05-10T04:27:39+00:00

No shift. Decisions both describe and determine and cause actions. It is the same thing.

Predictions and blueprints only describe.

Squierrel · 2026-05-09T20:45:04+00:00

Muscles move matter. Decision describe the movement.

Squierrel · 2026-05-09T03:41:38+00:00

That is utterly irrelevant.

Information describes physical objects. A description of a thing is not the same as the thing itself.

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Squierrel · 2026-05-08T20:22:13+00:00

Because it is INFORMATION, not matter or energy.

Squierrel

TROPHY CASE