Do we really deserve credit or blame for the decisions we make, or are our choices fully determined by our genes or by the conditions in which were raised – in any case, by factors over which we had no control? The question has been asked for millennia, and determinists always make the same mistake.
MELBOURNE – Since ancient times, thinkers have asked whether we freely choose what we do or if our actions are determined by forces beyond our control. That debate has been given new impetus by scientific discoveries that have advanced our understanding of the causes of our behavior. Robert Sapolsky, a Stanford University neuroscientist and recent guest on the podcast “Lives Well Lived,” which I co-host with the Polish philosopher Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek, is one of these science-based determinists.
MELBOURNE – Since ancient times, thinkers have asked whether we freely choose what we do or if our actions are determined by forces beyond our control. That debate has been given new impetus by scientific discoveries that have advanced our understanding of the causes of our behavior. Robert Sapolsky, a Stanford University neuroscientist and recent guest on the podcast “Lives Well Lived,” which I co-host with the Polish philosopher Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek, is one of these science-based determinists.