Free will and evolution (comments on Young's article)

Abstract

Attention is drawn to Planck's and Boltzmann's ideas on mental processes. It is further pointed out that the need to take into account the distant consequences of the animal's and, later, of man's actions required the development of consciousness and free will. The essence of consciousness and free will may be the capacity to integrate a set of signals to a pattern, to evaluate it, and to make a choice between alternative programs of action. Free will does not introduce a random element or indeterminacy into behaviour. On the contrary, it is a most powerful factor in adaptation and in the struggle for survival.