With the following idea I am finally rewarded for a long life spent mostly in the pursuit of pleasure: what is the reason for evolution to cultivate countless species of creatures able to experience pleasure, if not to bribe their free will to direct those creatures toward survival? Indeed, without freedom of will the regulation of behavior is much easier: eat that, avoid this, do not go there. But if a creature is disobedient, if it tries different things on its own, then proper behavior must be made attractive, must be rewarded with pleasant feelings. The crucial invention of evolution here is not simply this or that pleasure, but the concept of pleasure itself. It is indeed an invention of evolutionary proportion: there is no such thing as pleasure in an inanimate world, nor in the simplest automatic forms of life. I might even say: show me the point on the scale of evolution where pleasure (or displeasure) appeared, and that will be the point of the birth of free will.

One might argue that pleasure is also a tool to distract us from random deviations in behavior, but how else can such distraction be achieved, if not by directing us to make a choice? And choice is an attribute of free will.
Valery Chalidze, Dec 17, 20010