Overview: Destined yet unpredictable: A new science of free will reconciling determinism, irreducibility, agency, and AI through physics and computation.

Verdict: Every individual, from the most profound thinker to the casual observer, is composed of atoms - approximately 6.71×10^27 of them. These aren’t just any atoms ... they’re the same ones that construct galaxies, stars, and the vast expanse of the universe.

Predominantly, we’re made of water molecules and a diverse mix of organic molecules. Intriguingly, every single one of these atoms operates under the deterministic laws of quantum electrodynamics.

These laws, known since the 1950s, form the bedrock of chemistry, biology, and by extension, life as we know it. If the laws of physics fully determine the motion of every atom in our body, how could we possibly have free will - or do we have it after all?

So, do we truly have free will, or are all our actions simply a result of a previous event? I am referring to the law of cause and effect. Everything that happens is based on what happens before it. Therefore, it is my belief that no one truly has free will. It is not so-called free, thus the actions we make are determined by what happened before.

Ultimately, all the choices we make in life are an indirect result of the first event to occur (if there was a first), but as much as that has always been my own personal mindset, I have always been open to listening to other peoples views on this.

And this brand new book The Science of Free Will: How Determinism Affects Everything from the Future of AI to Traffic to God to Bees from author Samir Varma is one of those that I have most recently sat down to listen intently to; and which I implore all of you thinking like me to also do.

Not that is wholly changed my mind, or even had me running to tell all my fellow thinkers what I had read, no, but it did have me re-reading many of the paragraphs, even a complete chapter or two, and so I myself found this new prose both highly engrossing and thoroughly, and dutifully thought-provoking from start to finish.

In closing, what you can expect to read within these pages is a beautifully orchestrated book that reopens the timeless debate surrounding free will and it’s actual existence. In a way becoming a bridge between theory and practice, the prose is much more than simply an interdisciplinary study, thus giving room for author Samir Varma to break down long existing barriers in this really quite fascinating book.

About the Author - Educated at Columbia University and the University of Texas, Samir Varma pursued his passion for physics under eminent physicists including Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg. However, the cancellation of the Superconducting Supercollider prompted a pivot.

Recognizing the changing landscape, Samir founded a futures trading company in 1993, becoming an early adopter of chaos theory in finance. He lives in Cos Cob, CT.

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