Free Will

Rather ambitiously (perhaps), we decided to sort out the problem of free will. It seemed the sort of thing that could be resolved over a couple of pints, particularly on a Wednesday night.

So far, and this is subject to change, I think we came down on the side of (and I'm inventing a new term for this as far as I can tell) reluctant determinism i.e. we don't have free will but think we do (or want to think we do). 

Here are some notes from the discussion:

Maybe the Diceman (which I haven't read!) is a beautiful summary of the 'free will problem' - to achieve freedom, you're gonna have to forego freedom ... Resonates with Sartre's 'authentic life' etc. 

Interestingly, just because I cannot foresee the choices I make, does not necessarily mean those choices are free. 

If the microscopic fluctuations that lead to macroscopic laws are truly random, why do they consistently aggregate to produce those same macroscopic laws, insofar as they manifest as laws? Are there underlying microscopic laws that govern the consistent location of the average stochastic outcome? Might these microscopic laws relate to the physical constraints of the particles that vibrate to produce them?

Might humans experience free will in the same way as a particle of radiation? In other words, at the individual level it is impossible to determine the result of an outcome or choice point, but when aggregated to include numerous examples, statistical determinism emerges.

Choice exists at an abstract level, beyond the matter that makes it manifest, so is not dependent on the physical laws that govern such matter.

On reflection, a more accurate label for this position is 'reluctant illusionism'. 

Nevertheless, even this illusory free will is not infinite in scope, more like a restricted illusory will, with an even further restricted freedom of action. 

Critique of Pure Reason

Kant's first critique is not an easy read. In fact, after studying the content on and off through various secondary sources for approximately two years, I'm now getting round to actually reading it first hand. Compared to the very first experience of the text, I'm happy to say it has been making some sense finally, which for the large part I need to credit Professor Dan Robinson of Oxford University, whose published Kant lectures have sustained repeated playback, both before bedtime and on the bus to work.

In the search for supporting information to help with my understanding, the quality of (freely available) written material on the subject seemed wanting, not because it was 'wrong' in any way, but it certainly didn't provide the necessary, simple stepping stones needed to get to grips with the work's core concepts. 

In correspondence to Markus Herz, Kant confessed a mania for systematising, which I share (perhaps to a lesser degree), and this shared mania has directed me to produce my own humble attempt to encapsulate the ideas in picture form. This is version 1 - I expect updates to be regular (I'm only at page 80) as I progress through the work, and will publish later tweaked copies, those that I find sufficiently concise and illuminative.

Think-a-Sound

No sample.

Imagine this sample = guitar + shedLoadsOfReverb.

'Swap' with odD

One way that odD create their sound is through a series of 'swaps' between the members of the odD collective.  One member works on a section or sound and passes it on to the others when it feels right to do so - this often happens simultaneously, hence the term 'swap'.

Maybe you'd like to work with the odD collective by working with some basic odD material and getting creative?  Download the soundfile from https://dl.dropbox.com/u/27456631/odD%20Sample.wav and send us what you come up with . . .

Notation

How you do write a sound file - has notation lost its use, or do its restrictions actually allow for a more creative interpretation. For example, how would this actually sound to you:

attttttzxvvzhsggyyakkskkkaoowowjjjjwjkqj

.we .think .what .you .think

The first commercial album from odD is now available on iTunes and Amazon download - we would really love you to download the album and comment; hopefully positively!

The other exciting news is that odD are planning their second album release - most likely for summer 2013, but watch this space. We're very excited about the second album. It's been a long time and multiple dead ends, but we have finally struck gold. It will have been worth waiting for, although you can be the judge of that.

For the technical among you, we are looking at ways to make samples available online for you to remix . . . We'd love to hear what you do!