#David Rosen x reader

[minawritesfanfic]

David Rosen x Gn!Reader

A Better Version

Word Count: 2,544

Summary: You attend your cousins wedding and find yourself in the presence of David Rosen. Despite the wedding being over and having no cases that coincide, you and David continue to meet under the guise of ‘getting along as in-laws’.

Prologue

☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆

I stood at the open bar, drowning out the festive cheers and music. Weddings were lovely and all but when you’re single and the cousin of a wannabe matchmaker and bride, wedding festivities are just the beginning of what you’ll experience that day.

My cousin Mackenzie had even given me a plus one just so I’d bring a date despite her limiting the guest list to long-term partners only, but she knew me well enough that even if she paid someone to be my plus one I’d wriggle my way out of it and show up alone. Speaking of the devil, I took a gentle sip of my drink to avoid her gaze. I could feel her eyes drilling holes into the back of my head, I certainly knew better than to meet her gaze right now. Thankfully all this wedding hoopla had her plenty distracted and I could down as much free alcohol as I pleased. Though I was surprised to hear my name, for a moment I thought it was Kenzie but when they called my name again I could more distinctly hear the familiar and silky voice call me.

“Well, well, well. Fancy seeing you here,” I turned glancing over my shoulder, setting my martini glass down on the counter. To my surprise, I found the one and only United States Attorney General, David Rosen. I grinned, raising my eyebrow slightly in confusion.

“Yet here I am, but why are you?” I quipped back facing him more directly as I leaned back against the bar.

“Well considering this is my brother’s wedding, it would be odd if i wasn’t here. Hell, I wouldn’t miss this for the world, why are you here?” He asked, waving the bartender over for a drink of his own.

“Guess that makes us in-laws, somehow? The bride is my cousin. Anyways this is really fucking weird, so I’m going to continue getting drunk before Kenzie comes over here to set me up with one of your brothers’ friends or something.” I sighed into my drink, swishing the rich blue liquid in my glass, and took a slow long sip, enjoying the sweet flavour and slight tang with a satisfied sigh.

“What a small world we live in huh, this is definitely going to complicate my home and work life.” He joked taking a brief sip from the old-fashioned he ordered, I let out a laugh and set my glass down.

“It most certainly will, imagine explaining to your sister-in-law that you had to arrest and prosecute their favourite cousin. Fast track path to never meeting your future nieces and nephews,” I jeered with a snort.

“Hopefully that won’t have to be the case if that band of delinquents you work with stay in line with the law so I won't have to.” I scoffed as a lopsided grin grew on his face as he stared down at me, I noticed that his eyes no longer held that glazed-over and slightly irritated gaze. Rather now he looked at me with a gentle aloof yet still unreadable gaze.

His entire aura had changed honestly, normally he radiated tenacity, poise, and complete utter fucking arrogance. He’s also always had a clean, rigid, but impeccable sense of style too. A style that was especially evident now, his appearance remained clean but more gentle and calm. He wore pale green pants that matched his jacket, a white collared shirt, and a lavender tie that matched my outfit oddly enough. We both turned around upon hearing a chipper voice from behind, that called out my name.

“I see you did all the hard work for me, hi Davy, we’re both really glad you came,” Kenzie said with a bright smile on her face as she hugged David, her reception dress moving fluidly as she did so.

“Kenzie you did not, I practically work with him.” I hissed, folding my arms and glaring at her which she ignored as she rolled her eyes.

“Great so you already know each other, that’s why I picked him. Isn’t it cute, two lawyers defending the law side by side? It’s like a fairy tale romance, plus…” She leaned into me whispering in my ear, “I see how you’re checking him out and that dopey grin on your face, you can’t tell me you at least don’t think he’s charming.” I scoffed rolling my eyes and looking over at David who leaned against the counter with an amused and slightly confused grin on his face.

“Kenzie can’t we just celebrate your wedding and not play matchmaker? I quite enjoy the single life and don’t need you to keep setting me up. Especially when we conflict with each other at work.”

“Not so sorry to intrude but what is this about?” David butted in still looking quite amused.

“Davy, I told you that I had someone I wanted to introduce to you. I knew there was a possibility of you knowing each other, hadn’t expected you to so this is great. You two have fun chatting on this blind date, I have a reception to host.” She finished with a squeal and practically skipped away, I turned back around and signaled the bartender for another drink since mine now sat empty.

“I’m sorry about that, she’s been trying to set me up for years now. ‘Are you never going to have kids?' she asks, ‘We’ll never get to go on double dates!’ she whines. I’ll make sure she leaves you alone about this, I’m sorry for bringing you her nonsense.” I rambled on as I grabbed the freshly served drink I picked it up and ate the mint it came with.

“I don’t quite mind the idea of a blind date though, already blurring the lines between work and home. What's one step further?” I looked away from my drink at him, frankly startled by his words, seeing how flustered I was he continued, “I’m saying I want to continue this blind date set up with you. You aren’t half bad and I dare say I’m not either.”

“I... okay Woah woah woah, can we take a step back? I don’t even, what?”

“It’s a simple yes or no, is this a date or no?”

“No? Wait, yes, I mean yes. I’m just wow, speechless to say the least. This day just got way more interesting, okay so how do we go about this date then? I doubt you're much of a dancer,” I stammered slowly, regaining my composure as I gestured to the lively dance floor bustling with people.

“I may not like it but that doesn't mean I’m not good at it. What about you, are you out dancing in the rain during your free time?”

“Don’t knock it until you try it, but since you’re not averse to dancing mind joining me on the dance floor then, Davy?” I teased setting down my drink and walking away backward from the bar towards the ballroom floor.

He smiled and set down his drink to follow me, a Frank Sinatra song played on the speakers. I fully embraced the upbeat tune, my shoes clicking on the floor as I danced loosely switching my weight from foot to foot. He joined me following my pace, despite the earlier flirting we were both still unsure of what the hell was going on. Maybe it was the almost three martini’s I’d had but I felt daring as I grabbed his hand and linked fingers with him. We stared into each other's eyes for a beat just swaying back and forth, and slowly we snaked our arms around each other.

“So do you really dance out in the rain? I could tell you were a fascinating character, what other things do you do?”

“I do, it helps clear my mind and ease my tension. I also enjoy puzzles, and especially hand-making things. Whether it be food, crafts, or renovating my kitchen all on my own. Though I can’t bake much, my pies are superb. What about you?” He looked up with his lips slightly parted as he thought of an answer, the outer edges of his eyes crinkling as he did.

“I read quite a bit mostly sociology and theorize about it, I also do the occasional crossword puzzle with my morning cup of coffee.” I bit back a laugh as he raised a curious eyebrow at me.

“That’s exactly what I would’ve expected you to say, let me guess your go-to coffee choice is a red eye?” He rolled his eyes as a cheeky grin played on my face.

“Close but wrong, it’s an Americano.”

“How bland, I’m more of a Cappuccino person. I’ll never know how you all drink something so unsweetened and lifeless.”

“That’s what creamer and caramel drizzle are for, besides I’d prefer not to have an upset stomach from the gallons of milk you likely have poured in with a teaspoon of coffee.”

“Oh! I see how it is, that creamy texture and sweet taste is worth it though, sorry to hear your delicate stomach can’t handle a wee bit of milk.” We both laughed and a comfortable silence fell over us as we still danced entangled in each other.

Eventually, we moved away from the dance floor and sat at an unoccupied table drinking, eating, and chatting away. David was surprisingly quite fun to talk to and good at carrying conversations and was overall a lot more interesting than I’d first thought. He had a German Shepard named Lorelai, he was a homebody, and he wholly preferred chance meetings way more than he did using the up-and-coming online dating websites. It felt like mere minutes had passed when the wedding had come to an end and it was time to head home, though I wasn’t quite ready to end our date just yet.

We stood side by side outside the castle Kenzie chose as a venue's gates waiting for our rides, I leaned against him with my head resting on his shoulder. The Virginian breeze rustled my clothes and my hair, and the chatter of the other guests waiting for their rides floated around us. I tuned most of it out as all of the guests mindlessly rambled about whatever boring drama was going on in their lives, something about who slept with whose wife this time. Considering such a topic was an annoyingly large portion of what I deal with at work, I felt exhausted from only partially listening. I sat my head up and looked over at David, a dreamy look cast over his sunken face.

“Hey David, what do you say we do something fun? Wedding food is nice, but I’d kill for a burger right now.”

“With some curly fries and a shake, now you’ve got me hungry. I can’t imagine there’s anywhere open this late,” he said checking his watch.

“You’d be surprised, there’s this place close to my hotel that is open 24 hours. I didn’t get to try their burgers but the shakes are spectacular, so are you in?” I asked turning to face him fully as a taxi pulled up in front of us, he looked from me to the taxi as he thought.

“I’m in as long, just don’t you steal any of my fries.” He said opening the taxi door, then turned back to me.

“How gentlemanly of you Davy,” I teased again with a smile before getting in.

★ ✮ ★

“So after seeing her in that aquarium I made it my dream to become a mermaid, I even took swim lessons, practiced breath control, and learned different tricks with a tail on for years! If I didn’t fall in love with the law, we’d be meeting behind the glass wall of an aquarium.” I babbled on occasionally pausing due to my fits of giggles, David laughed along with me as I reminisced.

"Well, I must say, I'm relieved you didn't become a mermaid. Regardless of how funny it would have been to see you frolicking through the water with seashells and a tail, I much prefer seeing you in a courtroom advocating for your client. I do find it pretty admirable that you put so much passion into pursuing your dream, who knows though, maybe one day you could incorporate your love of the ocean into your legal career, somehow?"

“I wish, can’t even begin to think of how I would do that. What about you though, what's your wildest dream?” I rolled my head to face him, we both sat on the floor resting our heads on the base of the bed, an empty bottle of wine and a takeaway box of fries squished between us.

“Hmm, I don’t know. I was never really sure what I wanted to do or be, it’s honestly still crazy that I even have the job I do now. Law came out of nowhere and it just worked, I was this close to being a real estate agent.” He said with a soft but hearty laugh, his eyes were droopy as he stared up at the ceiling he yawned into his hand before looking over at me.

“Oh wow, Mr. Rosen the real estate agent, I’d let you sell me an overpriced house any time.” I laughed weakly, it was already three in the morning and it was obvious we were both exhausted. “David, would you like to sleep over?”

“Hmm, oh wow I hadn’t realized it was so late. If you would have me, I’d love to. Though I do wish I had something better to sleep in.” He sighed as he rose to his feet and extended a hand to help me up. I accepted his hand and rose.

“I doubt I have any for you to wear, just sleep naked,” I said with a yawn as I stumbled to the closet found my suitcase, and grabbed the pajamas that sat unworn, I just heard him hum in response behind me.

My pajamas weren’t anything special, just my favourite oversized shirt and biker shorts. I carefully took off my clothes and hung them in the closet, then I put on my pajamas. As I stepped away from the closet I found Rosen on the couch with the pathetic blanket they decorate the end of the bed with.

“I was assuming you’d join me on the bed, but who knows maybe this ‘comfortable’ couch and ‘warm’ blanket make for the best sleep,” I said as I stood over him with a hand on my hip.

“Well, I wouldn’t assume since this isn’t my hotel and with how drunk we are this seemed like the best option to avoid awkwardness at work.”

“I’m assuming you’d join me because we’re drunk, which is mostly my fault so the least I could do is offer you a nice bed to sleep in. Besides, if you don’t make it awkward, I won’t make it awkward. Now come on.” I grabbed a hold of his hands and pulled him up, dragging him to the bed with me.

We climbed into the bed and found comfort on our respective sides, I laid on my stomach and rested my head inwards. David had his back to me, I could see that his back was freckled lightly in the same way his face was. I just smiled and closed my eyes, finally getting my long-deserved beauty rest.

☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆

#David Rosen x reader #David Rosen #x reader #reader insert #scandal #wedding #wine and fries #fluff

[tabloidtoc]

People, July 13

Cover: Murder in Paradise -- two husbands poisoned, what do the wives know? 

Page 1: Chatter -- Sandra Oh on wanting to be on Scandal after reading the script, Chris Pratt on thinking wife Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt laughed a lot when they first met, Charlize Theron on her relationship with Sean Penn, Patti LaBelle on how she feels at 76, Zoe Kravitz on how former Catwoman Michelle Pfeiffer reacted to her taking on the role 

Page 2: 5 Things We’re Talking About This Week -- Jennifer Aniston shows off her tat, Mary J. Blige releases her own wine, a golden retriever turns 20, NASA honors pioneer Mary Jackson, The Princess Bride gets a quarantine makeover 

Page 5: Contents 

Page 6: StarTracks -- The BET Awards -- Amanda Seales, Roddy Ricch and DaBaby, Beyonce, Michelle Obama 

Page 7: Alicia Keys, John Legend, Chloe x Halle, Wayne Brady 

Page 8: First Look-- Jennifer Hudson and Marlon Wayans and Forest Whitaker in the biopic Respect based on the life of Aretha Franklin 

Page 9: Fun in the Sun -- pregnant Ciara in a pink bikini, Cindy Crawford in a hot tub, Britney Spears and Sam Asghari wearing masks oceanside, Colin Jost goes surfing in the Hamptons, the new Bachelor Matt James went wakeboarding with the old Bachelor Tyler Cameron 

Page 10: Summer Lovin’ -- David Beckham and wife Victoria Beckham on an afternoon walk, Reese Witherspoon and husband Jim Toth hold hands on their way to an L.A. market, soon-to-be parents Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner masked up for a stroll, Kate Beckinsale and boyfriend Goody Grace wear masks for a grocery run 

Page 11: Pregnant Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt stepped out with mom Maria Shriver, Miranda Lambert and new kitten Tequila that she rescued near a highway, Savannah Guthrie and Al Roker reunite for the first time in months, Cardi B and daughter Kulture in matching outfits, Padma Lakshmi with daughter Krishna after voting in New York’s primary election 

Page 13: Scoop -- how Kelly Clarkson is staying strong 

Page 14: Miley Cyrus reveals she’s 6 months sober 

Page 16: Heart Monitor -- Nicole Young and Dr. Dre $800 million divorce, Ryan Seacrest and Shayna Taylor split again, Billie Lourd and Austen Rydell engaged, Timothee Chalamet and Eiza Gonzalez new flames 

Page 17: Katy Perry on mental struggles: gratitude saved her life, Amanda Peet -- funny mom and killer role 

Page 18: Open House -- Luann de Lessep’s retreat in Port Ewen, N.Y. is for sale, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s emotional visit to Homeboy Industries in L.A. 

Page 20: For Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson producing the second season of his hit NBC athletic-competition series The Titan Games became a way of paying tribute to the country’s real-life heroes 

Page 23: Passages, Why I Care -- Mayim Bialik raises awareness about mental illness and how to get help 

Page 25: Stories to Make You Smile -- a man and his dog cruise country roads in a motorcycle built for two, a chorus of women are spreading cheer one sip at a time 

Page 27: People Picks -- Hamilton (definitely watch it!) 

Page 28: Stateless, Expecting Amy, Karma, One to Watch -- Sylvia De Fanti 

Page 30: The Truth, The Baby-Sitters Club 

Page 31: John Lewis: Good Trouble

Page 32: Books 

Page 34: Cover Story -- two husbands poisoned in paradise: were they murdered? -- in December 2018, boyhood friends Casey MacPherson-Pomeroy and Caleb Guillory made plans to ring in the new year on Anguilla with their wives but instead they ended up dead and now the men’s families wants answers 

Page 40: John Legend answers questions from readers -- musician and activist and the reigning Sexiest Man Alive talks to fans about his family life and his hopes for change in America 

Page 44: Country singer Granger Smith moving forward from family tragedy -- a year after the darkest day of their lives the singer and his wife Amber are finding purpose following the drowning death of 3-year-old son River in a pool accident at their rural Texas home 

Page 49: George Lopez -- my incredible life -- the comic gets candid about his difficult childhood, the ups and downs of his groundbreaking success and his blistering return to stand-up 

Page 52: Reunited with their newborn after COVID-19 -- we finally have him in our arms -- a Spanish couple spend 6 anxious weeks waiting to meet their infant son born in Idaho after the global pandemic shut down travel to the U.S. 

Page 58: Before They Were Famous -- roles of a lifetime -- Lifetime movies have been a rite of passage on the road to stardom for 30 years and counting -- Reese Witherspoon, Ben Affleck, Taraji P. Henson 

Page 59: Zac Efron, Kristen Bell, Hilary Swank, Mark Ruffalo, Jason Momoa, Ellen Page 

Page 60: A Teen Epidemic: Growing Up Anxious -- after a childhood steeped in anxiety and depression Kaylie Rosen found happiness away from school and then the pandemic sent her home 

Page 65: Kevin Bacon -- what I know now -- after 40 years in Hollywood the actor now starring in You Should Have Left reflects on fame and fatherhood and finding lasting love 

Page 68: Voices for Change -- as Americans grapple with issues of inequality and police violence and social justice these activists, artists and authors are helping to chart the path forward -- Rachel Cargle 

Page 69: Ibram X. Kendi 

Page 70: Brittany Packnett Cunningham 

Page 71: Nikkolas Smith 

Page 72: Johnetta Elzie 

Page 74: David Foster -- me and my girls -- the 16-time Grammy winner and his daughters open up about family ties and how he found his happily ever after with wife Katharine McPhee 

Page 79: Style -- summer sandals -- Mindy Kaling 

Page 81: Beauty -- the best summer hair tips 

Page 87: Second Look -- Match Game hosted by Alec Baldwin and featuring Thomas Lennon, Mary McCormack, Bob Saget and Padma Lakshmi 

Page 88: One Last Thing -- Andy Samberg 

#tabloid #tabloid toc #casey macpherson-pomeroy #caleb guillory #bet awards #respect #jennifer hudson #kelly clarkson #miley cyrus #katy perry #amanda peet #prince harry #meghan markle #harry and meghan #dwayne johnson #the titan games #mayim bialik #john legend #granger smith #george lopez #kevin bacon #rachel cargle #ibram x. kendi #brittany packnett cunningham #nikkolas smith #johnetta elzie #david foster #katharine mcphee #andy samberg #dr. dre

[allbestnet]

Guardian Essential Library

Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

The Annals by Tacitus

The Armada by Garrett Mattingly

Aubrey's brief lives by John Aubrey

The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X

Beethoven's Letters by Ludwig van Beethoven

Bully for Brontosaurus by Stephen Jay Gould

C: Because Cowards Get Cancer Too... by John Diamond

Candide by Voltaire

The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven by Charles Rosen

Climbing Mount Improbable by Richard Dawkins

The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography by Simon Singh

Collected Poems by Edward Thomas

The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx

The Complete Poems by Christina Rossetti

The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson

The complete poems, 1927–1979 by Elizabeth Bishop

Cosmos by Carl Sagan

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton

Danube by Claudio Magris

Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville

Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen

Diaries by Alan Clark

Doctor Faustus : The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkuhn As Told by a Friend by Thomas Mann

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Don Quixote's Delusions: Travels in Castilian Spain by Miranda France

The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA by James D. Watson

Dr. Johnson & Mr. Savage by Richard Holmes

E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation by David Bodanis

Effi Briest by Theodor Fontane

Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey

English Society in the Eighteenth Century by Roy Porter

Eothen by Alexander William Kinglake

Essays on Music by Theodor Adorno

Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse by Alexander Pushkin

Experience by Martin Amis

The Face of Battle by John Keegan

Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev

The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton

The Glenn Gould Reader by Glenn Gould

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford

Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux

Henry James: A Life by Leon Edel

A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov

If Not Now, When? by Primo Levi

If This Is a Man and The Truce by Primo Levi

In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust

In Siberia by Colin Thubron

In Xanadu: A Quest by William Dalrymple

The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens by Claire Tomalin

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell

The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. by James Boswell

The Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari

Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth by Paul Hoffman

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II by Fernand Braudel

Memories and Commentaries: New One-Volume Edition by Igor Stravinsky

Mendeleyev's Dream: The Quest for the Elements by Paul Strathern

Middlemarch by George Eliot

The Naked Civil Servant by Quentin Crisp

Old Glory : A Voyage Down the Mississippi by Jonathan Raban

On the Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Orlando by Virginia Woolf

Orwell and Politics (Penguin Modern Classics) by George Orwell

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

The Painter of Modern Life by Charles Baudelaire

Persuasion by Jane Austen

The Poetry of Robert Frost by Robert Frost

Politics by Aristotle

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

The Prelude by William Wordsworth

The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

The Quest for Corvo : An Experiment in Biography by A. J. A. Symons

Rabbit Angstrom: A Tetralogy by John Updike

Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke

The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Selected Writings [Oxford World's Classics] by William Hazlitt

The Social Contract and Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The Sonnets by William Shakespeare

The Story of Art by E. H. Gombrich

Sun Dancing by Geoffrey Moorhouse

Survival In Auschwitz by Primo Levi

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain

The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal by Jared M. Diamond

Thomas Hardy: The Complete Poems by Thomas Hardy

A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor

Trilobite! Eyewitness to Evolution by Richard Fortey

Troilus and Cressida; A Love Poem in Five Books by Geoffrey Chaucer

Ulysses by James Joyce

The Waning of the Middle Ages by Johan Huizinga

The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot

Ways of Seeing by John Berger

#books

[pamphletstoinspire]

Catholic Physics - Reflections of a Catholic Scientist - Part 13

Do Quantum Entities Have Free Will? (And Do We?);

Or, "Does it Matter if God Plays Dice?"

Of course I believe in free will. I have no choice."

The Salon Interview, 1987, Isaac Balshevis Singer,  

"There is no evidence for determinism."

Princeton Lectures, John H. Conway

"Philosophy is too important to be left to philosophers" Unification beyond the Core , Frank Wilczek (also attributed to John Wheeler)

"...dearly beloved...be not disturbed by the obscurity of this question; I counsel you first to thank God for such things as you do understand; but for all which is beyond the reach of your mind, pray for understanding from the Lord, observing at the same time peace and love among yourselves...

"On Free Will and Grace , St. Augustine of Hippo

In one of the later Foundation novels, Isaac Asimov envisages a world, Gaia, in which a super conscious mind pervades the world, from the smallest virus or rock to the humans (and robots) in it.  In such a world it would be natural that quantum entities have free will, and there would be nothing remarkable in the Conway-Kochen Free Will Theorem:

"It asserts, roughly, that if indeed we humans have free will, then elementary particles already have their own small share of this valuable commodity. More precisely, if the experimenter can freely choose the directions in which to orient his apparatus in a certain measurement, then the particle’s response (to be pedantic – the universe’s response near the particle) is not determined by the entire previous history of the universe." The Strong Free Will Theorem, John Conway and Simon Kochen.

I won't give an extended discussion of the proof (see the link in the caption for a very clear and detailed presentation by Rachel Thomas or the link for the quote for the rigorous mathematical proof).  Nor will I give an extended discussion of what free will might be (a topic about which philosophers have contended over the past millennia).  Halfway through writing this post, I discovered John Conway's six Princeton lectures on his Free Will Theorem online.  So really, rather than writing, I should just direct the reader to those lectures to see what the Free Will Theorem is all about.  I should also note that Conway does not claim his Free Will Theorem disproves determinism; indeed, he says there is no way to disprove determinism, despite the fact that there is no evidence for it.

Nevertheless, I would like to use the Free Will Theorem (abbreviated as FWT) as a springboard to discuss several issues in interpreting quantum mechanics, namely how randomness and consciousness might enter into interpretations of quantum mechanics. (Fear not, gentle reader--this will not be a "What the Bleep" presentation, or a jump into Eastern mysticism.)

First, let's see how the three axioms are empirically justified by contemporary physics; I'll phrase the axioms to make the physics clear (I hope).

1. SPIN.  There exist particles with intrinsic angular momentum (spin) with spin quantum number, S= 1, such that components of angular momentum along a preferred axis (as defined by, say, an electric/magnetic field or a polarizer) are 1, 0, and -1 (for angular momentum, I'm using units of hbar, where hbar = Planck's constant/(2pi)).  The three components are shown in the illustration, "The Spin Family".  The total angular momentum vector precesses about the defined direction.  The upper cone shows the component with 1; the flat disc, the component with 0; the downward pointing cone, the component with -1.   Then quantum mechanics shows that the squared components of spin in some arbitrary choice of three perpendicular directions must be either 0,1,1;  1,0,1; or 1,1,0 .  Note that photons have S=1, which is handy, because laser experiments can be done with photons.

2. TWIN.  It is possible to produce a pair of particles with combined total spin angular momentum 0, in what is called a "singlet" state.  Thus, if particles a and b are so produced in a singlet state, then if particle a has angular momentum component (in units of hbar) +1 along the defined direction, particle b must have component -1; if particle a has component 0, so must particle b; if particle a has component -1, then particle b must have component +1.  If the two particles should be separated after being created in a singlet state, their spin components will still be correlated: if a value of 1 or 0 for the squared component is measured in a certain direction for particle a, the same value must be measured in that direction for particle b.  This "entanglement" of spin components for separated particles was used by David Bohm in his version of the EPR (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen) paradox and entered into Bell's Theorem, to confirm (or disprove) hidden-variable theories for quantum mechanics.  Such entanglement has been verified by many experiments (done to test Bell's Theorem) over separated distances of many miles.

3. MIN (the original third axiom was FIN, having to do with limitations of speeds of transmission because of special relativity). We'll take two investigators A and B who are separated in space. The spin system A studies is labeled a, and the spin system B studies is labeled b; a and b are separated parts of a singlet, and each has spin quantum number S=1. Then Conway/Kochen state in axiom 3 that the choices by A and B for studying direction of spin components are independent:

"Assume that the experiments performed by two investigators A and B are space-like separated. Then experimenter B can freely choose any one of the 33 particular directions w, and a’s response is independent of this choice. Similarly and independently, A can freely choose any one of the 40 triples x, y, z, and b’s response is independent of that choice."

This axiom was chosen to make the FWT stronger, and to overcome objections made to the use of the FIN axiom.

We can proceed now with a short summary of the Conway-Kochen theorem proof.  First, it rests on the Kochen-Specker theorem (KST), which itself is quite important.  KST shows that hidden-variable theories for quantum mechanics having functional relations amongst the variables, independent of measurement procedures, are not valid.  Or, as Conway puts it, "the spin chooses its value on the fly." Accordingly, the measured value does not depend on the previous history of the world.  Conway/Kochen's proof  assumes that separated investigators (A-Alice and B-Bob) have free will in choosing the direction for measuring spin.  Then by use of the Twin, Spin and Fin axioms, and the Kochen-Specker theorem, they show, in a proof by contradiction, that there is no functional relation for spin measurements by Bob, and therefore that the spin response is independent of the previous history of its worldline, i.e. the spin system's response is "free".

What do Conway/Kochen mean by "free will"?  Both for the investigator and for particle system they mean that the choice--what is done--does not depend on previous history.  A more conventional interpretation might be that free will is the ability to freely choose amongst several options.  The term "freely" is understood, but susceptible to a number of definitions. (As with Justice Potter Stewart's definition of pornography, "I know it when I see it").  In his Princeton lectures and interviews for Rachel Thomas, Conway is quite emphatic that this freedom is not just "randomness".  To show how randomness might enter, he sets a backgammon tournament as an example.  The tournament director casts all the throws of the dice the night before the tournament, and then calls them out sequentially as each game is played, so that there is a level playing field for each contestant. An example more familiar to me is that of a duplicate bridge tournament.  At each table the four hands are dealt out randomly to begin with and the teams rotate from table to table, so that each team has played at each table with the same dealt hands.  There is a predetermined initial lay of the cards, but the players are free to deal with the sets of hands as they will. (Is this an example of what philosophers call "compatibilism" in free will?)  Conway strongly argues that the FWT forbids randomness as an agency, whether occurring at the event or predetermined:

"That’s why it doesn’t matter if God plays dice with the Universe, or not. Even if we allowed random numbers into the Universe, which I’ll think of as God’s dice, that’s not sufficient to explain the lack of pre-determinism in quantum physics." quoted in Rachel Thomas's article.

I have a problem understanding this assertion.  Granted that the FWT shows that the particle response cannot be predicted by a function involving past history, how exactly does that dispense with pseudo-randomness, predetermined before the world began?  What can we learn from physics, in general, and quantum mechanics, in particular, to understand Conway's argument?

Let's consider first "random noise" in electronic devices, my old friend from nmr spectroscopy and MRI.  Such noise can be characterized by mean square amplitude and correlation times, which in turn can be related to physical parameters. Molecular motion candidates for randomness also obey functional relationships. I've cited these as examples that don't contradict Conroy's argument about predetermined randomness.  Can the reader cite others that might? I can't.

If we turn to quantum mechanics, the state function, which most generally can be put as a superposition of basis states ("Schrodinger's Cat"), evolves deterministically.  The randomness comes at measurement, when the state function collapses, except for that basis state which gives the measured result.  Chance/randomness for the measured result comes from the component nature of basis states, and should be distinguished from weighting in a mixture of states. (For links to basic web material on quantum mechanics, please refer to another post of mine, Quantum divine intervention.. ) Quantum Mechanics does not include this state function collapse on measurement as part of the general theory, and thus results the so-called Measurement Problem .

Amongst the various interpretations and alternative theories which attempt to resolve the measurement problem, I'd like to focus on two: 1) the relation between the observer, consciousness and measurement in quantum mechanics; 2) many worlds/many minds (relative state theory).  From the earliest days of quantum mechanics, the great thinkers--Von Neumann, Wigner, Schrodinger--have posited that the final step in the measurement process was observation by a mind, a consciousness, and thus the mind and quantum mechanics were entwined.  The delayed choice experiment adds weight to this belief, I believe. There are many physicists (not abashed by the popularization of this notion in quantum leap science fiction) who subscribe to the Many Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics that at each measurement one option is made apparent and the rest branch (into alternative universes, alternative minds?).

Here finally is my take: as with John Wheeler, I believe there is a participatory universe created by the observer, conscious minds (ours? God's? both?). The free will of the quantum entity is our own free will.  There is an infinitude of possible universes and our ego, our consciousness traverses these as it makes choices.  If there is a universe where we measure the particle going through one slit, there is another (with other conscious minds) where it goes through both. Such a view resolves a conflict between free will and God's omniscience and omnipotence--if God knows what our future actions will be, how can our will be free? And the answer would be a type of Molinism, God is aware of all possible counterfactuals, but they are only counterfactuals for our mind, our ego, not for God.

From a series of articles written by: Bob Kurland - a Catholic Scientist

#catholic physics