I am wondering what an expert's interpretation of the double slit experiment means for free will. Does the ability of an observer to affect an outcome simply by choosing to observe it mean that the choice had to have been made outside of all universal conditions? I have no belief one way or another, I would just like to ask people more knowledgeable about this stuff than me what they think.

The Observer in the QM sense means any measurement or interaction. It isn't related to free will. 

When you measure a superposition wavefunction you have determined the state and the probability function collapses.

This wiki link covers this in some detail.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observer_effect_(physics)

Edited June 7, 20205 yr by Mordred

40 minutes ago, 22675728 said:

I am wondering what an expert's interpretation of the double slit experiment means for free will. Does the ability of an observer to affect an outcome simply by choosing to observe it mean that the choice had to have been made outside of all universal conditions? I have no belief one way or another, I would just like to ask people more knowledgeable about this stuff than me what they think.

I don't see how the double slit experiment is any different from interacting with any other system.

For example, you could have a simple computer program that draws random dots on the screen but when you hold a button down, it starts drawing lines instead. You are still controlling what it does, and deciding when it does it. That is true whether there is free will or not.

You could have a random number generator control either the double slit experiment or the drawing program, so there is no choice involved. The effects would be the same.

(This seems to be more relevant to the Philosophy section. But I will wait to see where you want to take the discussion.)