Abstract: 2. Will is awareness focused toward the achievement of a specific goal. Defining and achieving a goal requires both choices and change which carries an assumption of implicit time (before, during, and after the goal was achieved or choices made defining past, present, and future) and the ability to process information (otherwise awareness would remain static and could not evolve). Will can only be implemented within an information system (a system that provides information and dynamic (time based) processing as well as memory (required to support processing) and purpose (required to develop a meaningful goal e.g., system entropy reduction to facilitate evolution). The “distance” to the goal and the affect that past choices have made to that distance are information outputs that become the input to the next iteration of processing and choice. To achieve a goal effectively requires the evolution of an iterative process called learning.

Abstract: Consciousness (sometimes called “mind”) is an evolving (self-modifying) awareness that employs both will and intent to facilitate its evolution. An awareness that makes intentional, willful choices is called a consciousness. To effectively utilize will and intent in the service of evolution requires consciousness to have input (from an internal and/or external environment), memory, ability to process information, and a purpose. Moreover, the will of consciousness is always free to make choices that are contained within its decision space. A consciousness always has a choice, i.e., a consciousness cannot have a zero decision space and remain conscious or have a free will. Consciousness and free will (and thus a finite decision space) are logically necessary for each other to exist. Consciousness can only be implemented within an information system that has evolved memory, processing, and the ability to change itself through free will choice (in order to facilitate its evolution i.e., satisfy its purpose). Information systems evolve by decreasing their entropy (creating useful information). Entropy is most effectively decreased in the long term when will and intent are applied in such a way that choices are made that move a system toward satisfying its purpose. Within consciousness, the considered effort of will and intent to move the system towards states of higher or lower entropy, define both the practical value (quality) of the choice and the moral value (quality) of the intent. A typical, though dysfunctional, consciousness works (processes) at two distinct levels: the intellectual level and the being level. [Note: Focus toward achieving a specific goal from among many potential goals (perhaps also within a hierarchy of goals), requires a focused assessment of the direction forward (will) and a clear intention (vision and plan) that may suggests a specific choice. The choice, because successful evolution cannot be entirely random, requires memory (of previous choices), processing (a comparative result of those previous choices -- learning) and a purpose (criteria by which to compare the value of one choice to another). Change (as evidenced by choice, memory, processing, and learning) carries an implicit assumption of time which delivers dynamic existence. A choice once made is irreversible and moves the system forward (positive evolution to states of lower entropy) or backward (de-evolution to states of higher entropy) to a new state of being. A good choice (as opposed to a bad choice) moves the consciousness system toward lower entropy states (positive evolution becoming love). It is generally a moral (also called high quality or love based) intent that expresses itself as a good choice that increases the quality (lowers the entropy) of the individual and the consciousness system. Will and intent are attributes of a whole individuated unit of consciousness (IUOC) and not simply creations of the intellectual level of a consciousness.