My interpretation of Paul's question is that he is seeking a procedural/logical/mechanistic explanation of how a free decision can be made.
I think most of us are comfortable with cause and effect relationships. Determinism if you will. The notion of a computer has been mentioned. If/then logic is likely straight forward to all of us. Its understandable, it can be reduced, its comforting.
The notion of random is a tough one for me. I won't pretend to have a nuanced take on whether there are truly random events in the universe or not. I have a vague appreciate of quantum physics and the notion of probabilities. But at least when thinking about something being "random" its usually something "out there" so to speak. The decay of a particle, etc. If you don't fully know if something is random or as yet just not fully understood in terms of cause and effect, you can treat your understanding of it as random as a sort of placeholder.
But when we start to talk about our own subjective consciousness and contemplating whether our thoughts are "free", that's different. So Paul is trying to understand, again, the process or method by which a free decision comes into being. He seems to want a logical explanation for how that might even occur; a philosophical definition even.
If I'm at all near what Paul means (which I may not be at all, lol), I can appreciate the sentiment.
The reason I don't find it "interesting" per se, is that I do not think there is an answer. I think its intractable. It won't be satisfying as to why I think this, but it relates to my personal, rather unformed metaphysics. Let's just say I am not a materialist reductionist and I'll leave it there.
I think most of us are comfortable with cause and effect relationships. Determinism if you will. The notion of a computer has been mentioned. If/then logic is likely straight forward to all of us. Its understandable, it can be reduced, its comforting.
The notion of random is a tough one for me. I won't pretend to have a nuanced take on whether there are truly random events in the universe or not. I have a vague appreciate of quantum physics and the notion of probabilities. But at least when thinking about something being "random" its usually something "out there" so to speak. The decay of a particle, etc. If you don't fully know if something is random or as yet just not fully understood in terms of cause and effect, you can treat your understanding of it as random as a sort of placeholder.
But when we start to talk about our own subjective consciousness and contemplating whether our thoughts are "free", that's different. So Paul is trying to understand, again, the process or method by which a free decision comes into being. He seems to want a logical explanation for how that might even occur; a philosophical definition even.
If I'm at all near what Paul means (which I may not be at all, lol), I can appreciate the sentiment.
The reason I don't find it "interesting" per se, is that I do not think there is an answer. I think its intractable. It won't be satisfying as to why I think this, but it relates to my personal, rather unformed metaphysics. Let's just say I am not a materialist reductionist and I'll leave it there.
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