# Determinism **Entity class:** Concept or analytic term ## Definition **Determinism** is the view that a system's state and governing dynamics fix, or strongly constrain, later states. ## Relationships **Related concepts:** [[wiki/Choice vs Loop|Choice vs Loop]] · [[wiki/Free Will|Free Will]] · [[wiki/Causality Engines|Causality Engines]] · [[wiki/transform function|Transform Function]] **Collections:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] · [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] · [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] **Canonical source article:** [[articles/Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta|Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta]] These links record conceptual dependencies and contrasts. Institutional control, technology transfer, and empirical continuity are tracked as separate relationship types. <!-- BEGIN HUMANIZED RELATIONSHIPS 2026-09-11 --> This entry's documented connections are expressed in its definition and related-work routes, with provenance retained in the source-linked material. <!-- END HUMANIZED RELATIONSHIPS 2026-09-11 --> ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > "I could end with a simple "So let's not create aware machines"—but any possible technology that anyone thinks is desirable will eventually be developed, so it's not that simple." > **— Aubrey de Grey**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Desirable Technologies Will Eventually Be Built by Aubrey de Grey|Desirable Technologies Will Eventually Be Built by Aubrey de Grey]] > “Retribution as a moral principle is incompatible with a scientific view of human behaviour. As scientists, we believe that human brains, though they may not work in the same way as man-made computers, are as surely governed by the laws of physics. When a computer malfunctions, we do not punish it. We track down the problem and fix it, usually by replacing a damaged component, either in hardware or software.” > **— Richard Dawkins**, *“Let’s All Stop Beating Basil’s Car,” Edge Annual Question, 2006* [[reminders/Human Animality/Retribution Conflicts With a Scientific View of Behavior by Richard Dawkins|Retribution Conflicts With a Scientific View of Behavior by Richard Dawkins]] > “For middle-sized objects at 37° like the human brain and the human body, determinism is obviously true. The next state of the physical universe is always determined by the previous state. And given a certain brain-state plus an environment you could never have acted otherwise — a surprisingly large majority of experts in the free-will debate today accept this obvious fact. Although your future is open, this probably also means that for every single future thought you will have and for every single decision you will make, it is true that it was determined by your previous brain state.” > **— Thomas Metzinger**, *2006, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT IS YOUR DANGEROUS IDEA?”* [[reminders/Consciousness/Every Decision Follows from the Previous Brain State by Thomas Metzinger|Every Decision Follows from the Previous Brain State by Thomas Metzinger]]