Autumn

Tübingen

Do we have free will ? My current view to the question.

Do we have free will ? 

What is free will ? 

No one knows the answer because the free will is, by its nature, a perceptual idea that differs from person to person. Is free will the ability to make 'free' decisions regardless possible cost/ reward, or the ability to generate a motivation and goal that is not given by others ? Is it a special quality that is inseparable from human beings, the unique, chosen species of the world, therefore impossible to be analyzed whatsoever, or something that is totally experiential that cannot be appealed to words ?

 If we don't initially agree on what the free will is, we are not going to be able to discuss it.

Here, I adopted the most popular view of what the free will is. That is, free will is the ability to make decisions voluntarily. The ability to make choices by our own not affected by the possible outcomes, our experience, or our previous choices. This implies that it should be totally random, unpredictable, if the task is not relating to any kind of goals. 

Allow me to cite a paragraph from here  , to demonstrate scientist's effort on this issue. 

quote::

16.5.1 The Libet experiment

The classic experiment in the research field of human volition was performed by Libet (297). In this experiment, subjects decide on their own when to move their right hand. After each trial subjects report when they felt the ‘urge to move’, with respect to a rapidly rotating hand of a clock. The reported ‘urge to move’ is in fact about 200ms earlier than the actual movement. Most interestingly, however, electrical brain activity measured by EEG recordings indicates that the brain exhibits signals of preparatory activity already several hundred milliseconds before the reported ‘urge to move’. Thus, if we accept to interpret the felt ‘urge to move’ as the conscious decision to move the hand, then we must also accept the fact that the brain has unconsciously prepared our decision.

A modern and debated variant of the Libet experiment is shown in Fig. 16.11A. The main difference to the original Libet experiment (where the decision was limited to ‘move’ or ‘not move’) is that subjects now hold two buttons, one in the left and the other in the right hand (490). Subjects are free to decide when to move and press either of the two buttons. While subjects perform the experiment, they watch a stream of letters at a rate of two letters per second. At the end of each trial, they indicate at which letter they had felt the ‘urge to move’. The reported letter serves as a timing reference for the subsequent analysis.

During the experiment, brain activity was recorded through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Using statistical pattern classification techniques, the authors aimed at predicting the final response outcome (left or right) based on the activity patterns in localized brain areas. If brain activity contained no cue about the final decision, the prediction would be always 50 percent. However, the authors found that activity patterns in fronto-polar cortex 5 seconds before the reported ‘urge to move’ allowed them to predict the final choice (left or right) with a precision of 55 - 60 percent (490) which is above chance but far from a reliable prediction.

quote over ::

The experiment predicted the decision 5s before the subject report they 'feel the urge to move' with 60 % accuracy by monitoring fMRI image of brain activity. Not satisfactory, but somewhat tells us it is not totally unpredictable. There are different models that model the process of decision making in neuronal level. According to the author, the free will to make decision is still under debate, because our decision may be changed drastically at the last millisecond because some novel events change the landscape of Liapunov function during the course the state falls to the attractor.  

 ' We don't do what we want, we want what we do.' Speaking of to identify the moment of 'feeling the urge to act', I cannot avoid mentioning the widely accepted view that we don't generate the urge voluntarily. Our motivation is by large controlled by a variety of hormones, dopamine, and serotonin. These chemicals are the source of the feeling of happiness, sense of belonging, pleasure of orgasm, etc. Our deepest motivations are conditioned by this genetically programmed constraints. If you do something because you feel good, usually it can be boiled down to either social or biological rewards conditioning.  Who can deny, that the happiness is the reward that no one can resists ?

  In rare conditions, we have free will when the outcomes do not affect us consequently. But maybe even in that case the decision process is determined by the random variable embedded in the neuron population. At best, we have free will within constraints of the life we lead in terms of motivation.  However, it brings about a important implication. When we chose to suffer the consequence when there are better options, free will may be operating.  For instance, any self-sacrifice, or suicidal action of sane, healthy people could be explained by free will.

  A mother reported when she observed her bi-polar child, she immediately realized that the insane person has little control to their actions, they don't have free will. It gave rise to a very peculiar yet inspiring point of view that defines the free will in way complement to our previous definition. That is, the free will is not the ability to act according to your urge, but the ability to inhibit the urge. We can design a experiment in light of this. A experiment tests subjects ability to resist being conditioned. When we can control our urges, which usually, if not always, stem from genetically programmed conditions, we are enforcing our free will. 'Free will accompanies voluntary suffering.' this conclusion is not only cogent, but has rich sociological connotation.

  Another interesting view is, no, we don't have free will, since we are in anyway either constrained by biological curse, or sociological cause. The environment either shaped our body, or shaped our mind. Our thought is a product of our experience, or our collected experience, our culture. The view also indicates the essence of the problem is paradoxical because we recursively have to attribute the free will a physical source, a small brain pulling the lever inside our brain, and a smaller brain and so on.  Do we want what we do, or do we do what we want ? Do we have egg first, or chicken first ? 

The paradox may be untangled by introducing the concept of co-evolving. Free will does not emerge at once, but shapes gradually during the process of decision making. That is free will and decision may not be causal related, but co-product.  Or, according to this answer,  that real free will means being able to look at our decisions and actions and understand them in terms of a narrative which identifies ourselves within them. Free will means saying "I did this, because xyz." And maybe we're wrong about the xyz, and maybe you get freer the better you understand yourself over time.

  

   

  

 

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Heiligkrueztal Retreat Seminar.

  It is not clear when was the last time I wrote a blog, but it must be very long time ago. Lots of things happened in this semester, and I barely wrote a blog to record the trail of my life in Tübingen. 

Maybe as I said in the last blog, one needs the strong inner drive to write.

  I also wonder does this mean I also stop thinking, since writing is the explicit form of mental process, or I was simply lost my ability to sense the subtlety of life anyway ?

  Amongst the things I am going to write down in this blog, the first thing that I want myself and those who are constantly watching this intermittent diary to know it that I've got a scholarship in this semester !

  I don't know how it happened to me, but you know, every dog has its day.

Here is the story. 

   I always know it is important to maintain good relationships even with people who seems to be distant or unfriendly because you don't know whom you will need when you are in desperately need.  

  Dr.Herbert in the head of our program. He was a strict and prudent man around 60 years old. He was infamous for his stern look and grumpy temper when you disturbed his job. He would not put on a friendly smile and mildly seek your compliance as any well-rounded adults in Taiwan and in the US will do. When he felt you disturbed him, and you were not aware of that, or you were not trying to avoid that, he came to you and blatantly asked you to change. For many times I was called by him due to the noise I made when closing the door. How could I be blamed ? The problem could be easily solved by adhering a rubber cushion alone the door frame.

 No one, especially for foreign students, has yet to accustomed to this straight-forward, typical German expression. It was emotionless, bloodless, and ruthless regarding to how most of us were educated when we were asking someone else for a favor: be politer than polite.

     

An old farm house near the one I stayed during our seminar.  The unadorned green window frame and bland beige wall give me a warm, simple, harmonious impression. It was not meant to be an eye-catcher, and the theme colors suits the background landscape perfectly. I was charmed by its down-to-earth, simple, unaffected style because it reflects the life style of its owner. They are all hospitable and friendly people. This photo was taken around 3 pm. It was hot, dry, and plenty of light to capture the best color. I remember all my classmates went to the park playing games, allowing me to savor the serenity and unspoiled street view.

  I was impartially sociable and warm regardless how unfairly I was treated by him. That very day in the morning, I was light chatting with him in a hope to ameliorate our relationship. I was asking him if he knew any lab doing neuroprosthetics. As a German, he take my question seriously, and give me some names he knew. Unexpectedly, he mentioned if I was funded by any scholarship. I was actually pretty desperate for money then since I took student loan, and my job application was just rejected by a group leader.  Baffled by his sudden question concerning my financial state, I uncomfortably confessed that I was not good enough to get myself funded, and I was looking for a Hiwi, or research assistant, job.

   He asked me if I read the email the coordinator sent me, and kept on saying they wanted to give me a grant after knowing I haven' t read the mail. ''WHAT ? WHY? '' I could hardly believe my ear. I did poorly in the class, and I didn't apply for that. ''Are their brains broken ? '' I was startled incredulously.

  Of course I did't slip my tongue. You can't make that stupid mistake regardless how stupid you are. ''They must have a good reason. Maybe I am not that bad at all. '' I tried to convince myself that I was actually an underestimated genius whose talent was so profound that his poor grades told nothing of it.

This picture is a good demonstration of the power of triangular composition. The dark brown rooftop, and the shadow on the right consist the diagonal section lines of the picture. The stark contrast of the color on the upper left and bottom right are separated by the brown roof, which ameliorate the presence of the two extreme. Noteworthily, the fresh green tapering tower is emphasized due to its distinguished position and color. Maybe you can come up with some meaning for it ? In my eyes, the church tower is not so solemn, perfect and unreachable like most cathedrals. However, it is its humble and banal style makes it so welcoming and homy to the locals. It is conveying an idea: God is not just a supreme existence. God is also a father that has mercy even to people as humble as you and me.  I like the design of the church. It is ordinary, plain, but it is never grimy and chaotic.

    

The roses are in full blossom during the day. You can also see the small buds around the bloom at the bottom. The rose vine consisted an arch of the front yard of a residence. It was blossomed at its best, and it touched me since it is the symbol of eternal love, and the garden reminded me of Romeo and Julie. The sun penetrated through the leaves, forming a bright spot on the CCD. You can think of it as a divine ideal, which the mundane love, the rose,  is looking up to. Juxtaposing and manipulating the interactions of the two symbols generate many possible interpretations. To name a few: 1. love is a pure form of divine existence. 2. We mundane are always looking for a kind of idealistic purity in our life, and love can be one of the answers. 3. We mortals can never reach the level of pure platonic, spiritual love, as how unconditionally God loves us. However, love itself is good. Therefore, our love is blessed by him. A picture convey more in this moment. 

The old wall and vine, very classic combination, consist a stereotypical sets of ideas.  Summertimes, abundance, joyful moment of life, and eternal vitality setting roots on heavy, out-dated, monotonic history.  This theme is a good object of practice. Especially you can easily create a contrast of depth, complexity, and brightness. It lacks focus and center of attention, making it a good wallpaper. 

Another photo conveying simple aesthetic principle. Repetition and order. Our eyes cannot catch too many information at the same time. Try to convey one and only one idea of beauty, and eliminate all distractions in the frame. 

 I didn't tried to compose the picture to make it looks like Monet's painting, but you immediately notice their resemblance. Another good demonstration of design. Exploit what your audience have already learned, leverage the idea of your photo on those giants. It is not teaching you to replicate, to imitate, but showing you great artworks are usually a result of recreating, reinterpreting the ideas and principles that has been well established.

This is a hard one for me. I spend a lot of time contemplating the best crop. My camera is not equipped with fixed focus lens, and it was difficult to make my idea simple because the scene was pretty messy. Too many distractions. What I tried to capture was the shadow and the light, the tangled creeper and the wooden door of the barn. I don't know how other people think, but I think the scene is unbalanced. That is, deficient in clear contour and color blocks. Secondly, there are too many distractions, or so to speak, too many foci in it. This scene is absolutely beautiful, full of exquisite spots, but I should have spend more time to analyze, organize and design what at the best I could have got.  

Saturated color, exposed bricks, and unusual roof design. Time left trace on what it has touched. This small town was old, experienced, and very telling. Coming from a young and modern city. The coexistence of history and present in this town was very intense and imposing. It was a very thick, textured experience that took me a while to digest. The history was not only in the building, the landscape, but also in the lifestyle and people's faith, value, and characters. I walked into the history, walked into the painting, and I almost met Millet around the corner of the street. 

Two windows and a whit wall. You sure not much information in the scene ? I tried to convey the subtle beauty of texture. Texture is important, but easily neglected by lay person's eyes. It determines the quality of the color, and the authenticity. Good rendering of texture evokes textile sense in your brain. The texture of the white color make it more tangible, as if you can caress it with your eyes. In fact, there is nothing that is flat and smooth in natural scene. There is always variability, fluctuation, and inhomogeneity in real world. Our world is, to some degree, chaotic, noisy, and irrational. Again, light is the best friend of photographers.

What more can I say ? 1914 ? 2015 ? 3 lifetimes' span doesn't cause much difference. the only trace that expose the year is the sign and the watch. The wall was so uneven, damaged. It strikes me as an organism being with its own metabolism, just like human skin. The house is not inanimate object, but a living thing for centuries. It always hurls me in awe.    

江山萬里心

江山萬里心 

Jiāng shān wàn lǐ xīn


風雨千年路　江山萬里心

Millennia of winds and rains alone the road we endure

Vastness of rivers and mountains our bosom contain 

秦關月　楚天雲　無處不是故園情

Moon in Qing frontier＊

Clouds on Chu's sky

Nowhere is not overwhelmed by my nostalgia 

紫塞三春猶飛雪　嶺南四季花似錦

Every spring, north across the Great Wall, snow flies still.

All seasons, south down Qin Mountain, flowers resembles brocade. 

九曲黃河怒淘湧　長江三峽一舟輕

Winding-twisting Yellow River splash and crash furious waves in

Yangtze River's gorges a boat flows swiftly through 

更有那桂林山水     恰似人間仙境

Not to mention, Guilin's Landscape 

Alas, Heaven on earth as such!

敦煌月泉外　沙漠起駝鈴

Outside Dunhuang's Crescent Lake, 

camel bell rings the desert

風雨千年路　江山萬里心

Winds and rains endure the roads for millennia

Rivers and mountains of homeland are embraced in our bosom

秦關月　楚天雲

Moon in Qing frontier

Clouds on Chu sky

無處不是故園情　

Nowhere is not overwhelmed by my nostalgia 

無處不是故園情

Nowhere is not overwhelmed by my nostalgia 


＊Qin frontier is the paraphrase of 秦關, Hangu Pass. 
Hangu Pass was a strategic pass in Qin state's territory during Warring-States period (476BC ~221 BC). It was the entrance for Qin state to enter Guanzhong (literally, "inside the Passes"). During Warring-States Period Guanzhong was the western edge of Chinese civilization. Therefore, Hangu Pass symbolized the frontier of civilization in Chinese othodoxy.

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This poetic lyric is from the theme song of a travel TV show, “Da Lu Zun Qi” , broadcast in Taiwan. The show features the mild  monologue of the hostess describing historical and humanity landscape of China , down-to-earth shooting/reporting style, picturesque scenery, and ernest interaction with indigenous people. In evokes strong nostalgia and thus gained huge popularity among families of veterans and emigrants, who retreated from Mainland China around 1949 due to the defeat of KMT government in Chinese Civil War.

The TV show sustain its popularity over decades since its debut in 1990.  It is its 25th year of broadcasting in 2015, 

Borghese Museum (not finished)

Tübingen Wäldhäuser

Snowy winter

I have forgotten when was the last time I wrote something in this blog.

Time pasts fast, and I tried to grasp some wonderful memory sooner or later will be forgotten by

everyone, including myself.

During the past few months, I leaned German in Viva Lingua institute, but didn't really improve much, and then I started to learn by myself, via the website 'Duolingo.'


Time flied, and there came the Christmas holidays, during which I went to Italy to recharge myself with the cornucopia of best European arts- from Gothic, Romanesque to Renaissance , and to Baroque arts.

David by Michelagelo

I have seen the most famous and remarkable sculptures in the world when I was traveling across Italy- Milan, Florence, and Rome. I have stood in front of some of the most breathtaking art pieces, famous or not, for hours, and reflecting and chewing over the ideas the artists tried to convey.

Back the times, artists are not artists of today. They are erudite literate who possess the ability to appreciate, criticize and create arts. They live a very different life style than most of their contemporaries- farmers, handicraftsman, and small shop owners, who were not able to read, to write, letting alone appreciate arts.

David by Donatello

These artists are liberal experts of ancient literatures, and adept at science. Their works advocate the ideas of Christianity meanwhile they have the freedom to reinterpret the stories and morals that were meant to be the privilege of clergies. Exemplars are ubiquitous- David and Goliath by Michelangelo, a constant subject of great interest of the time, has been seen as a symbol that  human civilization defeats barbarian primitivity, and conquers nature powers . On the other hand,  Donatello, one of the earliest representative sculptors of Renaissance, although loyally but blandly expressed moral the original story , good overcome evil, his David is the first freestanding nude male sculpture made since antiquity.

David by Bernini

Pay a visit to  Borghese Gallery in Rome, you will find the best collection of Bernini, the Michelangelo of Baroque era. His David tells an entire different story.

Without the peacefulness and perfectness pertaining to the figures and stances of sculptures in Renaissance era, here you see a David with intense facial expression, impressive muscle profile, and dynamic, flowing body movement. Everything becomes more energetic, emotional, and expressive. The revolutionary ideas pertaining to Bernini's sculptures opened up a new era of Baroque style of sculptures.

There are too many things to talk about regarding to the classical arts I saw and learned in Italy, so I will leave it to another post. So, let's back to the topic.

Time flies, I don't really have time to write blogs, and it is really not a good time to write a post, since tomorrow I have to hand in my Machine learning homework, and Final exam is near. However, human is human because they always can't be disciplined like machines and follow what is planned by themselves a minutes ago.

I write blog because I have the strong impulse that compels me to write down what I have felt and thought during the day. It is like there is another guy living inside me, dictate me to fulfill its wants.

I write because I am forced to write, not by my boss, but a hidden boss living inside me. He is the master , and I am his slave.

It was cold, my hands turned numb a couple of minutes after I drew it out from my pocket. But I had to keep doing it to photograph all magnificent natural spectacles that I saw here in Tübingen.

The town is small, and most people are students. In the outskirt of the town it felt doubly empty comparing with already sparse populated town. Few cars, and few people incidentally passed by my visual field shortly when I was walking on the big ways. Other than that, you are all by yourself.

You start to talk to yourself. Of course silently.

If you are a person who enjoy solitude, Germany is for you. If you are a person who is tired of noisy and bustling life of mega city, Germany is for you. If you also are agitated by any colorful and animated animals and plants, Tübingen is for you.  Only thing you will see here in winter is immense farmland caped by snows, and bland and that passionless dull sky falls behind it. Empty and vast are how I will describe it. The huge emptiness displayed its gigantic size that will awe you if you were born in a crowed noisy urbanized tropical island like me. 

Wildness is a solid ocean for inland cities, these unpopulated lands are also very exoplanet looking.

It is like a white solidified ocean with black forests lining surrounding any inland German cities. We are living on islands made of bricks and concrete. Although we can walk on this ocean, it is still untraversable.

Comparing with humid, frying hot climate in Taiwan. The coldness here is soothing, and the serenity is enjoyable. I am tired of hearing people quibbling over infinitesimal business and counting their beans under their nose. I am also irritated by the garbage news and shows on TV that I had to live with in Taiwan. Here, I am accompanied with woods and grass, sky and earth. Finally I can rest my ear and rest my mind. I hope the serenity here can heal my nerve breakdown.  

A tree standing alone in the middle of the field. Its branches stretched out leave-less, resembling nerve fibers we see on the cover of Nature journal.

Put down your job temporarily and take a walk in the timeless forest. You will find out how ridiculous it is how we live in our everyday routine with weary. Without human activity, the world seems to be timeless, and everything around me seemed to be asking, ' Why are you always so in a hurry ? Will you die if you slow down ? ' Yes, slow down seems to be the most extravagant thing to do to us, and slow down seems to be regarded as a guilt. Are we unconsciously taking slow down as a form of laziness or unproductiveness ? So what ?

We always think time is flowing, but when there is no life, there is no time.  Time is meaningless to nature. 500,000 years later, sun rises and sets, snow falls and tree withers.  Maybe sometimes a tree may recall a guy had come beneath it 500,000 years ago, if you incidentally passed by a tree spirit someday .

Isn't it beautiful, if one day we can take our time and seat on this bench, take a look at what is surrounding us ?

'Where are the people ? ' asked the tree.

'Look at me, I am so beautiful ! Come out and see me !' 

       Watch point. But where is the border ?

  
   People don't need horses anymore. We have cars, bikes, and planes. Horse becomes a beautiful reminiscence that will be remembered as a time when we are not that far from nature.