Susuto

Fascinating article. Someone may have already mentioned this, but it just popped into my head (perhaps of my own free will…?):

Firstly, I’m not a physicist, so please forgive my butchery of the theories I reference/inappropriate vocab…

If I understand correctly, a deterministic universe is one giant Rube Goldberg machine, with every bit of matter down to the atomic level interacting with each other in predictable ways to produce one outcome after another, leading to a perfectly predictable universe that is unfolding like cosmic clockwork. If that were the whole story, I could renounce my belief in free will and begin my indulgent descent into a life of orgiastic amorality.

But at the quantum level, uncertainty exists - particles in the same situation don’t behave in exactly the same way (refer to the famed double slit experiment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc), which opens the door to probability, and at a higher level, parallel universes - it’s a big jump, I know, but isn’t that the general direction? If parallel universes exist, branching off with each possible outcome at each moment in time, then so must free will - the only question is whether there are infinite parallel universes, (and therefore true free will), or a finite, albeit mind-bogglingly large), number of possible outcomes at any given point in time (a limited set of choices, but still choices).

Additional thought: the double slit experiment demonstrates that the act of observing the experiment changes the outcome. This must mean that by simply observing our world, each of us is changing it at the quantum level. If we also take into account the theory of quantum tunnelling (i.e. vibrating one bit of matter affects another unconnected piece of matter elsewhere in the universe, i.e. everything is connected), does this mean that every sentient being exists in their own parallel universe, since they continue to exist in their own branch of reality, which is governed solely by what they observe and do? If we create our own reality, doesn’t that mean free will exists?

Doesn’t that basically make each of us God of our own parallel universe?

Fuck, I’m twisting myself in pretzels here…Am I missing anything here? Someone care to elaborate/show me where I’m going wrong?