# Lack of Freewill doesn't mean lack of choice **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 10, 2021, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lack-of-freewill-doesnt-mean-lack-of-choice/954128 "2021-11-10T15:31:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 96
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2021, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lack-of-freewill-doesnt-mean-lack-of-choice/954128/96 "2021-12-03T00:19:07Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Consider [Thomson’s lamp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomson%27s_lamp): it’s switched on after a second, off after half a second, on again after a quarter, and so on. What is its state after two seconds? Clearly, it can’t be on: for every time that it has been switched on, it also has been switched off. And for the same reason, it can’t be off! But it must be in either of these states (those being the only states available to it). This is only a paradox because it assumes time is continuous, while also assuming the state of the lamp is discrete. If time were discrete the infinite series becomes a finite series. If the state of the lamp were continuous, the mathematical answer ‘_S_ converges at 0.5’ is applicable. It would mean perhaps the switch is half way between being on and off, or the lighting element is still warming up. ~Max --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lack-of-freewill-doesnt-mean-lack-of-choice/954128)._