Determinism in the Clockwork Universe

In classical (Newtonian) physics, the underlying philosophical assumption is that with the initial state given (positions, motions and masses) all future events would be entirely determined. We could also follow that logic in reverse to see all past events as well. Classically speaking, this would pose a difficult situation for ‘free will’. It almost reminds one of the Lucretian explanation for everything in De Rerum Naturam: motion, atoms and the void.

But wait! Never fear, we can always, now so better and better educated humans, appeal to quantum physics to save our free will, right? But I guess that all depends on what you mean by quantum physics. There are really two things going on in the so-called indeterminacy. First, is the particle/wave smearing and spreading out over ‘phase space’. But this process can be described mathematically by the Schrödinger equation . But this process of waveform spreading through Hilbert space is also completely deterministic. In principle the process is also complete reversible (see the time-independent equation). The second process is waveform collapse. This occurs when the actual measurement is made, and all possible states of our system “collapse” into one observed actuality. This is where the indeterminacy comes in to play. The probabilities in linear superpositions give us the frequency of expected results, but it is the actual measurement that determines the ‘truth’ of the matter.

But this raises a question, at least to my mind. If the collapse of the waveform is where the indetermancy enters, and the collapse of the waveform is a direct result of observation, and the observer himself is made up of quantum ’stuff’ that follows the deterministic progression of the waveform, how can freedom enter in? How can I be more clear. . . how does freedom arise out of necessity? Why does consciousness [for lack of a better term] turn the completely determined into the free, by free choice?