"Guy Hoelzer"  wrote in message
>
> So you would agree that there is, at least currently, no scientific basis
> on which "free will" can be used to distinguish humans from anything
> else in nature?
>
We can probably show that human behaviour is more plastic than animal
behaviour. When chimpanzees are given a choice between a large portion of
sweets for themselves and a smaller portion for another chimp, or the
reverse, they always choose the large portion for themselves. Humans are
much more plastic. A psychologist can construct a situation in which most
people would opt for the larger portion, for instance if getting to play the
chooser role is represented as a reward for winning a contest, but it will
generally only be a statistical tendency. Some people will still give the
bigger portion to their partner.

However we are far from demonstrating where free will exists, or indeed if
it exists at all. Nevertheless there is a powerful subjective impression of
having free will, and this is not something that behavioural science can
simply ignore.
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