Emergence of free will and consciousness in humans: implications for doctor-patient interactions.
Philip D Welsby
Postgraduate Medical Journal June 2018 DOI: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2018-135634 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Consciousness Free will Informed consent Voting systems |
| Key points | Argues that because multiple voting systems applied to the same neural inputs can produce conflicting outcomes without indicating which is correct, this indeterminacy may underlie free will, self-awareness, awareness of others, consciousness, and personal responsibility, with implications for doctor-patient interactions. |
Abstract
Human brains have about 100 billion neurons each with about 1000 dendritic connections with other neurons giving a total of 100 000 billion deterministic dendritic switches. Various voting systems that the brain may use can produce conflicting results from identical inputs without any indication as to which one or ones would be correct. Voting systems cannot deliver unequivocal results in any other than the simplest situations. It is hypothesised that these conflicting results provide an indeterminacy that underlies free will, self-awareness, awareness of others, consciousness and personal responsibility, all of which can influence doctor-patient interactions.