Free Will as Deterministic Competing-Accumulator Tie-Breaking
Paul Rodgers
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) September 19, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.22848351 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that free will is compatible with full determinism because decisions between competing options are resolved by a deterministic yet computationally irreducible tie-breaking process, which the author distinguishes from randomness. The paper identifies a specific compatibilist question that this account leaves open. |
Abstract
This manuscript addresses decision-making and free will within a framework committed to full determinism at every level, adopting a compatibilist position in which a decision between competing options is resolved by a deterministic, but computationally irreducible, tie-breaking process rather than by any element of genuine indeterminism. We draw a precise distinction, already established in real philosophy of mind, between irreducibility and randomness, and identify the specific compatibilist question this framework’s account leaves genuinely open. The foundational architecture, geometric intuitions, and motivating philosophy of this framework originated independently with the author prior to and separate from any AI involvement. Subsequent mathematical derivation, connection to established physics literature, computational verification, and error-checking were conducted through extended technical work with AI systems (Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini). The author directed this process, evaluated and selected among proposed derivations, and takes full responsibility for the accuracy and originality of the final work.