Einstein Was Wrong': Does Physics End the Free Will Debate?

Michio Kaku, a professor of theoretical physics and co-founder of string field theory, is the pop-scientist behind many bestselling books, like Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel.

When he's not writing bestselling books, he is continuing "Einstein’s search to unite the four fundamental forces of nature into one unified theory" and resolving a question that has occupied philosophers, theologians, and scientists since time immemorial:

Does free will exist?

In under two minutes, Dr. Kaku ends the free will debate once and for all. Or at least, he tries to.

Dr. Kaku says that physics ends the the free will debate. But does that mean there's no such thing as free will? After all, if human beings are products of their physical, material parts--electrons, protons, and neutrons bound by the laws of time and space--then doesn't that mean that we are all slaves to material determinism? Doesn't that mean we have no free will?

Dr. Kaku explains:

Newtonian Determinism says that the universe is a clock, a gigantic clock that’s wound up in the beginning of time and has been ticking ever since according to Newton’s laws of motion. So what you’re going to eat 10 years from now on January 1st has already been fixed. It’s already known using Newton’s laws of motion. Einstein believed in that. Einstein was a determinist.

So goodbye free will? Not quite. In the clip below, Dr. Kaku argues that "Einstein was wrong."

Via Big Think.