Free Will vs. Determinism?

[Perhaps]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCyKNtocdZE

In the above linked video, the author John Searle discusses new developments in neurobiology and their effects on the philosophy of free will. He presents two primary hypotheses providing support for each and concludes his discussion with a question and answer period.

I found it to be a good use of an hour, but for others I could understand it being lengthy and time consuming. Regardless, it's something to think about.

The part of the video which most interested me was his analysis of physicality being determined and our perception of randomness being a simple lack of knowledge. He then goes on to state that quantum mechanics has offered an explanation for the first time in history as to events occurring completely at random - for example, the universe.

I hope some of you can enjoy his lecture as much as I did.

[Whateverist]

Excellent, I'm about to run it. Thanks for posting. I just heard him speak in San Francisco about a month ago as a guest of a consciousness group. Very interesting.

I remember liking his take on perception as being the way the objective world perturbs our fields of consciousness. It seemed like most of the others in the group wanted to talk about the consciousness of bees or flowers or the planet, but he kept bringing it back by saying how little is even known about how organisms with neurons experience consciousness. I took one seminar from him when I was Cal eons ago. He is so lucid even at around 80.

[Hoptoad]

Thanks for that, nice one.
I have come across quantum indeterminately as an explanation of free will before. But, his point that rationality added via the interface of the brain/consciousness. Is a new one and a good one. Explaining how choices are rational, within limits, and how the random element (which must be present in a causal universe to explain free will) is rationalised and so a useful tool, rather than a hindrance.