Act as if there is no free will: It leads to less blame & better questions.

[Ostronomos]

I'm with chaos theory on this. My interpretation being that there are things which can fall one way or another and even theoretically ..  the amount of information required to predict which way does not exist.
Stop for a coffee and you meet the partner you've always dreamed of, you live a long and happy life. Pass by the coffee shop and you die lonely, bitter and twisted. You pass the coffee shop because there's a tornado heading your way .. which turns out to be something to do with a pesky butterfly somewhere in Brazil.

Yes, that's how I think of it as well.

There apparently are non-linear dynamical equations such that even infinitesimal differences in initial conditions can result in large and dramatic differences in how a physical system evolves over time. It's not like the linear equations that we studied in calculus class, where infinitesimal changes in the x axis produce infinitesimal changes on the y axis. Graphing such an equation doesn't produce a line, but rather a dust, a scattered collection of points.

Determinists often object that non-linear equations of chaotic dynamics are still deterministic, in the sense that each precise initial state is still mapped onto one and only one resultant state. But the sensitive dependence on initial conditions requires that initial conditions be absolutely precise, since any deviation would produce an entirely different result. So no matter how precisely we can measure conditions at time A, unless the measurements are absolutely precise, those initial conditions are consistent with a multitude of different states of affairs at distant Time B.

And quantum theory seems to give us justification in saying that conditions at time A can't in principle be known with absolute precision, since particles appear to behave probabilistically. Instead of saying that an electron is unambiguously here, all we can say is that it has some probability of being here.

Hence what I take to be the fuzziness on the microscale. And non-linear dynamics seems to provide the amplifier that boosts that micro-fuzziness onto the mesoscale where we live.

I found it necessary to reread this for more than a cursory glance.

Chaos theory seems to be a solely physical theory. It reflects the compulsion toward metaphysical naturalism in the modern sciences. I find that it's a handy tool, but it leaves much to be desired. I find myself gravitating towards the metaphysical sciences of today. Those of which are breaking new ground in the hard problem of consciousness. An ontology is required to provide us with a way not only of viewing the world, but of pushing the boundaries of science. 

 

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/T17YRtYcvIs