Robert Sapolsky is easily one of the most clear-thinking and informed science communicators alive. What a fantastic asset to science, culture, and humanity.
@@atypicaltexan3834 Sapolsky is funded by Stamford, a statist instution. His "research" is never going to disrupt, and will most likely promote validity of a ruling class. The "no free will" meme is a prime example. His worshippers here, take his words as "truth" like faith-based religionists.
If there's one person whom I would choose to be in charge of public policy -- based on scientific evidence, not on beliefs, biases or ideology -- it would be him.
@jona Interesting you should mention Penrose. He thinks quantum mechanics has something to do with consciousness, but almost all neuroscientists think this is nonsense. Of course, since Penrose is a 'geometrical wizard', and won the 2020 Nobel in physics, his ideas are at least listened to. Interestingly enough, back in the day he himself said that had he published any of his really speculative theories before he became famous, he never would had a career in science. Once met him; he's a very nice guy -- and a genius.
I feel so lucky that I found Robert Sapolsky. He’s so honest and brilliant! I always think about what he says and how important all his hard work will be so improve our thinking and the world.
Sapolsky is underrated as a comedic genius. He's got a quickdraw wit that shakes your mind awake, making sure you're listening to the actual content of his message, with humor.
This book has had a huge impact on me too! We as learner’s of his work need to help spread it about with family and friends and use our social media to bring the truth of neurobiology, determinism and it’s implications to as many as possible
I don’t understand why people who realize there is no free will get depressed or unmotivated to do anything. It was literally the opposite for me. This realization makes life worth living to me because I know there is no arbitrary standard I must compare myself to. I now have motivation to do whatever and I’m happy because I don’t constantly worry if I’m “failing at life”.
Except libet studies about free will were refuted recently in Berlin and he himself believed in free will. You are just desperately trying to get rid of god lol
@@cyberreality7774 I don’t think you understand. The existence of God makes you less free than if there weren’t. How would getting rid of God accomplish anything?
@@cyberreality7774 that has nothing to do with God and if he knows everything we are going to do, then we cannot do anything else other than that thing meaning there is no other choice, which is the entire point of free will.
@@thebelligerentbull it's interesting that perhaps free will is more possible when we put "God" or a higher level version of our self in charge as apposed to living by ego and reactivity. Kind of an interesting intersection of non-duality and neurobiology.
It's called individuality. One person is happy it's raining whilst another is miserable it's raining. Just because there's no free will does not mean we're all going to think and behave the same given the same situation/outlook.
In other words: "Believing in freewill is not free. Some of us believe in it, some of us don't. However even that is not free." Thanks man for this interview.
Agreed, there is no free will according to ideologies such as antinatalism based on consent. Seems like inherent optimism bias and terror management theory will always help though.
@Pavel Litkin Exactly. The hard problem of consciousness (as it is called), is what separates humans from robots and allows us to choose to do things. What surprises me is that this psychologist along with many other materialists do not acknowledge the research that has shown that we have free will thanks to having consciousness and being able to choose between different sets of actions despite whatever chemicals reactions we might be feeling, (such as adrenaline, excitement, and so forth and so on). Humans are not 100% predictable robots that make decisions based off of binary code yet materialists think otherwise.
@@johnbloom1109 Just because you have the ability to make choices doesn’t mean you have free will. In order to believe in free will you must also believe in causeless effects. You cannot will what you want, period.
I'm a fine artist in my mid 20's, and my career has taken off a lot more quickly than I expected. Rather than feeling particularly talented or sophisticated, or superior to my peers, Sapolsky has confirmed my suspicion that I'm not any more valuable than the starving artist, nor less valuable than the millionaire painter. To make peace with the absence of free well, in my head I base my own value on how kind and empathetic I am towards the people around me. A life of artistic compassion and mindful kindness significantly softens the blow of reality.
Tuning in to Professor Sapolsky in 2021. His teaching reached me 10 years after his behavioral science series and his lectures resonate with my long-held suspicions about how we operate. Leaving sincere appreciation here today. Thank you for speaking on those notions we've wrongly held.
@@firewithfire848 sounds like you made that aggresive comment to manage the cognitive dissonance that you got into, from listening to someone who disagrees with you and provides evidence. Afraid of letting go? Loosing the illusion of control? See i can do the dumb dumb too.
Wes Cecil has some very intriguing lectures on his channel. He has a series of lectures on how having a solid sense of identity and belonging with your peer group is mandatory to have a sense of security and contentment.
mr. Robert is such a great guy, he found time to explain Serbian psychotherapist some questions that i had. he taught me to be humble and find time to answer every one.
Sorry my English , I’m Norwegian🇳🇴🇳🇴 … It’s the best answer on depression I’ve heard in my whole life (I’m 44) (From my experience with depression in my teenages an as an adult … ) Better than the doctors and even most psychiatrist I’ve met . And your’re so right : BOTH psychotherapi and antidepressives . But unfortunately we don’t get both … We get the antidepressives & we use them unsupervised ….. Love to listen to this professors knowledge. I can continue to listen at Robert Sapolsky for hours :)👏👏👏👏
Awww... he’s depressed. 😥 please tell Dr Robert Sapolsky that he is a wonderful person and a wonderful teacher. I truly feel happiness when I see a new video with him on it. Please tell him that though life is pointless his has not been and will never be. Tell him he has touched and helped so many. Tell him he has helped me so much and I wish I could thank him.
One great thing about the internet is it allows us to listen to such bright minds. I have been listening to Sapolsky on a couple of occasions, as well as a few other « regulars » (usually scientists) who help me find some peace of mind, marvel at the wonders of the universe, or merely reflect upon the human condition and the times we are living through. Nobody has the absolute truth, of course, but these people are a major source of inspiration to me, and help me carry on. 😊
@Madolite Meaning in life is vital to survive. Meaning for me is purpose for living, a motivation to take individual responsibility for yourself and be the best person you could be. Many people without meaning in their life commit atrocities or suicide. The chemicals in their brain change and become depressed.
Sapolsky is an actor on the pay roll of a ruling class funded school whose job is to make the ruled feel there is no reason to try to improve and become a free society with no ruling class.
He reminds me of a lovely trainer who thinks in similar ways about dementia. Having been through a version of this and how incapacitating it can be Robert is a fresh air. Medical cannabis has been a blessing in allowing my brain to rest and reorder itself somewhat. Thanks for the great rewire gurus. I have a child that is completely different to anyone else I have met previously. It has been a challenging journey at times. Going against the grain of societies musts has been difficult.
Look into mycology they are doing some amazing research into fungi and all the amazing things it can do for the brain, cancer, psychological disorders the immune system etc.
i used to be an addict and aftwards often thought i was depressed, i probably was. I couldnt change it, and consistently my mood is at a lower average level than that of others. i have found that way of thinking to be erronious though.. ive dealt with it by accepting that my normal bar of happiness is at a different level to that of others. once i accepted that and altered my manner of doing things i felt better about myself. not because im less depressed but because i see myself in terms of my capacities now instead of through comparison to others...it hasnt mad me the life of the party, im still an unsociable grumpy somewhat miserable git... but its made it bearable in my own mind unlike before. i changed the benchmark of comparison through learning, through understanding my failures not as failures or shortcomings but simply as different route to get where we all need to go....through life
I’ve had ideas around the lack of free will for many years and it wasn’t until I read his book that I really got it. I have also suffered with depression (runs in the fam) and I have a theory that depression (and similar mental disorders) may in fact be the reason we accept lack of free will and understand it better than many others. We are so aware of the limitations and control our brain has over our lives that we are saturated with feeling out of control. Depression and anxiety can highlight these feelings.
I tend towards agreeing with your conclusion that neurodivergency or mental health issues primes someone to being able to more readily accept a lack of free will, I (at least heavily believe) that I suffer from executive dysfunction and a number of other symptoms of ADHD, my whole life I've had to negotiate with myself around why I did or didn't do something and had to recognize a distinct lack of a sense of agency for a number of my failures, if I was to hold onto a belief in free will then I would of destroyed myself mentally at the weight of all my failures being some fault of my conscious.
@@sierralynch8325I, at 40, recently realized I have ADHD. That realization has brought with it an increased awareness of my lapses of executive function: areas like impulse control, emotional regulation, prioritization, time management, etc. I haven't figured out how to improve my performance yet; I'm just more acutely aware of my lapses as they're happening. I feel I have very little control over my actions most of the time. I'm very much at the whim is my brain.
This interviewer asks such sincere and smart questions...Really appreciate that he draws Spolasky out to wrestle with the implications of no free will. I wrap my head around no free will, no blame, and no praise by remembering what I was taught in Sunday school..love everyone and forgive. ( Like SPOLASKY I have been an atheist since childhood) It will be a much better world when we grow to accept we are all equal and all deserve to have our needs meet..The status quo is cruel and leads to a world of hurt...the minority enjoy extreme wealth and privilege while the majority suffer.. I hope our institutions will be able to evolve before the current state of inequality breaks us.
I felt pretty depressed when I realized I was an atheist, but every time I meet another atheist or watch a video with atheist speakers I feel less depressed! And more like I'm part of a community 🙂 a really awesome community!
@@creativechristinaa Is anyone ever truly wise? Are you Buddhist? Have you truly destroyed the ego? Which scientist said a little science takes you away from God but a lot brings you back? See Americans are impulse shoppers in all aspects of their lives and that includes philosophy-right?
To me it's liberating to know life is meaningless. Yes it can be depressing knowing that we are victims of our circumstances & that many of us are given a raw deal in life, but it can also make us more compassionate knowing this, & can allow us to appreciate the amazing things we have created.
beautiful program I am a practicing niche rein buddhist an dI have followed dr sapolsky for number of years although or views of religiosity slightly different I find many of his lectures truly help me better understand try buddhist practice thanks doc I will keep on watching...
I have always been a big fan of Robert Sapolsky, as well as someone who believes in science and reality. Robert challenges you to forget about what you know from watching TV, and actually THINK: something many people are incapable of, or unwilling to do.
i think both. incapable because they have been brainwashed since childhood to think a certain way & believe certain things about the world and life. Unwilling because later on their brain has already been wired a certain way and questioning the blind beliefs that one held all along will be uncomfortable and just too much work.
This book has had a huge impact on me too! We as learner’s of his work need to help spread it about with family and friends and use our social media to bring the truth of neurobiology, determinism and it’s implications to as many as possible
"someone who believes in science and reality".... You will hardly ever find scientists using the term "reality" because the beast can not be tamed... Think quantum field theory, non locality, quantum tunneling etc. Science has given up trying to understand the fundamental nature of reality long ago. The Newtonian billiard balls of cause and effect are long dead. Refer if you will Alfred North Whitehead.
Even without "freewill" we can still have a sense of identity. For one, we still are alive, we are unique and no one is ever going to share your exact experiences in life as you are. The way your brain works and makes decisions and feels is totally unique to you and the experiences the universe has put you through. We still make decisions and have choices even if those choices are ultimately a result of a measurable physical process. We can take the knowledge we have gained and better ourselves. The future may be deterministic in theory, but in practice it is totally impossible to know exactly what is going to happen in the future. So we live life to see what happens next. Just because a book has a pre-written ending doesn't mean reading the book is pointless.
I wish I could give 10 upvotes for you because you explained it perfectly. We're here to experience it and having everything pretermined shouldn't take the joy out of it. You can enjoy book or a movie too even if the ending has already been decided.
The fact that it is absolutely impossible to know exactly the future doesn't make the future less deterministic. Also I would make a distinction between determinism and pre-determined. Pre-determined means that a certain future state of the universe is set and known (to speack of something being set is for something to know that state), while determinism involves only uninterrupted causal nexus, without any knowledge of a future state (it may be predicted to some amount, but never totally). So there is nothing that pre-determines from the past that someone X will die at age 72 in a car accident bla bla bla, only when you get to that point you can retro-analyze some of the causes and conditions that determined the event. The one with ''better ourselves'' is sketchy also. Bettering is just what we thing it would be of more use to us projected from the present moment that this cognition is happening. So when one says ''I bettered myself'' or '' I will better myself'' what does one mean? He is in a state mode desired that he once was and in a future state I want to be different in a, b, c modes than I am now and that I am imagining myself to be in the future if I don't act and do so and so.
@@cjayroughgarden1520 If not burning yourself is considered a bettering o oneself, than learning to not burn yourself betters yourself in comparison to the moment you considered you were not bettered. If I consider that learning to ride the bicicle betters myself, that I will do so. That is not to say that any of the thoughts, and emotions for this proccess were not fully determined, but the actual inner experience is experienced as if one does this things and chooses to do them and feels he's the agent. You can never get rid of the feeling of agency, just acknowledge that it is just that: a feeling, not an ontological truth.
When my Ego hears me thinking about there being no free will.. it paradoxably draws strength from the idea and says back "Ah now that I know this I will keep an eye on what influences my decisions and how I influence others, this will aid me in making more sober decisions". It's so weird and reminds me of something I've seen Sapolsky mention in another lecture "Gaining the strength and will to do X from the irrefutable evidence that X cannot be".
Do you have a link to that lecture? I believe “Gaining the strength/will to do x from the irrefutable evidence that x cannot be done” is useful in many contexts
I recently discovered Sapolsky only a few weeks ago and I am so glad. He's my new Neil de Grasse Tyson, Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. Fascinating guy, excellent speaker. {:-:-:}
He really is an excellent speaker and possess a haircut that cries out credibility and enlightenment. But that does not mean his 100% materialistic views are correct. Refer perhaps Alfred North Whitehead for a view of the universe that makes more sense than "it all started at the big bang in a single moment for absolutely no reason at all."
Mr Sapolsky says of how morality feel. Is the way I feel, love neuroscience knowing more and more make you realise how our minds work it's just breath taking.
Understanding that people are the way they are because of factors they had no control over has made me so much kinder as a person. I’m not perfect at it but I understand at least a little now that even the worst people are ultimately unlucky on a certain level and I don’t have to hate them or wish them to suffer to oppose by harm they do.
I really wish Dr. Sapolsky could know how much I appreciate him, even if I didn't have a choice and neither did he. Lol. What a weird concept Edit: I also appreciate the interviewer for conducting a great interview and bringing us this great content. Thanks Vert!
Thank you, interviewer, for delving into the thought-provoking topic of free will with Robert Sapolsky on this podcast. Sapolsky's ideas on free will have always fascinated me, and it was intriguing to hear his distinction between change and free will, which is like a teaser for his upcoming book set to release in October 2023. I'm eagerly looking forward to diving deeper into Sapolsky's insights on this complex subject. In the meantime, I'll continue exploring related resources to satisfy my curiosity about how change comes about. Great podcast! Can't wait for the book release!
This book has had a huge impact on me too! We as learner’s of his work need to help spread it about with family and friends and use our social media to bring the truth of neurobiology, determinism and it’s implications to as many as possible
It’s interesting that knowing that there’s no free will creates depression for him, I’ve had anxiety my whole life like his wife, incredible anxiety, it brings me comfort knowing there’s no free will. To me this means all we need to do is bend the needle for a new trajectory, like machines our people will turn and correct course if we do this right. Flooding the world with education, de programming the hate and re-programming with love. I see a lot of darkness in the future but I see a lot of light and opportunity should the right people be allowed to take influence. What a Time to be alive, all of this education, all of these intellects and who knows what we can do with this place! Possibly survive after all. We are more machine than we think
But he is not saying we are "machine like"... He is saying we are 100% electro chemical simplistic machines that have absolutely zero control or choice in our own lives... Which no one believes to be true per their day to day actions and experience... Not even the criminal on death row. His thinking is an over stretch of simple Newtonian billiard balls, that simple cause and effect applies to absolutely everything in human life. No, there are certain things under our conscious control. There is such a thing as potential and choices.
@@showponyexpressify I tend to agree with him. I believe it's like destiny written. I suppose I'm just a little more hopeful in the trajectory and whom will eventually gain power. Of course I am not in the know, anybody could end up in power based on destiny's thinking. I do believe that we could not possibly know all the data written in somebody's hippocampus, not even if we had everything about their life written. For example you have 100 choices written in your hippocampus to make a decision, we can predict which decision you might make but we can't know for sure. We may however have the data of all 100 pieces if we know every type of Cinema you've ever watched every piece of experience you've ever had, but how do you collect all that data on a human being? Let alone all human beings? He probably knows a lot more about whom is in power than I do and that's probably behind his dismal belief in the trajectory perhaps it's best to be blinded and easier to shuffle through life, but shuffle we do...
@@bluehairkim1 So you don't believe in potential or possibilities..? that must feel horrible. Isn't that why we find flowers and kittens beautiful - because they speak of potentiality and new life... On the flip side, I guess in a billiard ball mechanistic universe there is no regret for one's mistakes either, no one ever does anything wrong - even the father that recently poured gasoline on his wife and kids here in Australia and premeditatively set them on fire - killing them, this could not have happened in any other way. No, I am sorry, I just don't experience this type of billiard ball universe. I live in a world of real possibilities that are provided by the Absolute, and a world where regret can be a real thing.. I would suggest the universe is more like a novel or play that is being written in real-time, and that the absolute being is intimately along with us for the ride, drawing all things towards greater and greater levels of novelty and which may or may not succeed. And would refer any readers of this comment to the ideas of Alfred North Whitehead.
The idea that completely determined, unfree machines like ourselves ever came up with the concept of free will in the first place is so absurd that the universe must have a sense of irony.
The idea that completely determined machines could even HAVE concepts is absurd. Alas we do, so we must be more than such machines.. What that more is, I dont think any of us really knows.
This is so interesting! and i've felt the same as RS for ages about the lack of free will. The challenge this interview raises for me is how can we "truly feel" anything? Without blame, hate and praise... Is love anything more than another social construct? How should we choose to do anything without purpose / the feeling of purpose? And lastly if "feelings" are only neurochemistry, what behaviour should we display from a burst of serotonin or dopamine or cortisol and by that same problem, what things should cause those neuro-chemistries.... is the only 'true' philosophy nialism? is everything nothing?? AAAAAHHHHHH! *EXISTENTIAL MELT DOWN* (AGAIN!)
I love the phrase that there is much less free will than we thought, however I would love to have discussion with him discussing deep buddhist philosophy
Careful there. Nihilism is like a philosophical mobius strip. An existential trap of perpetual defeatism. The purpose in life is simply to live it. To observe the universe around you and marvel at it, and apply that to your actions. Remember Hamlet: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." In other words, no one knows what's next, even someone as brilliant as Sapolsky. I hope that gives you a little comfort.
I don't think a lack of free will means a lack of purpose. For example, manu people who have gone through horrible experiences (such as being raised in a cult, being abused) can become advocates for helping those who suffer and find purpose in that. Sometimes it might be just enough to try to be a decent human being to another and realize we are in this shit show called life together, all swayed by the currents of life and our experiences. Also, some of the things attributed to free will are still available. You can for example take time for meditation or similar to strengthen your inhibitive capabilities to make (presumably) better decisions. The neurotransmitters are a complex thing, but from my understanding, a simplified version is that dopamine is a molecule that relates to finding rewarding behaviours and repeating them. Serotonin relates to sense of contentment. But there's a lot more to them and i don't understamd them at all. I mean excess serotonin in the form of serotonin syndrome causes hostility and anger in many people, among other things. And ofc it's not only the chemicals, but the meaning we attach to the experience. Adrenaline and noradrenaline gets released during excercise, playing a horror game or being robbed. The first two might be pleasurable experiences to some, while the latter probably not. But i dunno. I've been in a chronic existential crisis for a long time. Knowing how fallible my emotions and instincts are cause me distress, but so does not allowing them too. I think the challenge is to be compassionate and accept mistakes, but i have tremendous mental and physiological issues so i am hypervigilant all the time, doing my best not to mess things up anymore. I too find it hard to understand how i should orient myself in life. What would be truly worth pursuing or attempting, what would be the optimal mindset or behaviour and are any of these even realistic for me? Am i doing more harm in doing something and to which extent should i care? Life is truly bizarre.
@@metheiam5714 great take! The "lack of free will doesn't mean a lack of purpose". I guess is what we have left, in the little grey zone that we don't know. The hope that there is something in which we could shape the outcome. That's to me the most relevant question. Could we shape our behaviour, so we can have certain outcomes? It was all biological evolution rules? If so, we could argue that the values we have are or could be replaced by luck or any exterior input during the evolution of our species / society. So is there a moment where we choosed a path? -hope you are doing better and stable- being stable is hard for many people. I'm struggling with that. Best
Sapolsky is an actor on the pay roll of a ruling class funded school whose job is to make the ruled feel there is no reason to try to improve and become a free society with no ruling class.
I totally disagree. My sympathies are with Dr. Sapolsky. True RS is a great teacher. He's a great story teller. RS is New York in Berkeley - so jewish in a non jewish world. However, my sympathies are with him because we live in an "dumbing down" world of anti intellectual in pursue of knowlegde that as a society have no basis of understanding. The upside is we have RS teaching on the internet. Infomation on Demand. Amen
The way I see it, my brain function feels autonomous enough, and I can kinda derive some sense of identity from the actions my mind produces, so I live as such. I may not have the capacity to do things and think thoughts my brain's physiology cannot produce, but the thoughts and feelings I can have tend to allow me to have fun along the way. I may not have the free will to choose to help a homeless person out by preparing meals with a local shelter or ministry, but the behavior can still be produced by my brain and the resulting chemical and neurological signals feel pleasurable enough. I may not have the free will to choose to swing on a rope swing over the water, and watch fish jump, but I still will do it, and enjoy it. I find more relief in the fact or possibility that I do not exist, that my mind was plopped here and I'm just an illusion of self, and my brain has the extremely slight ability to influence its behaviors. I may not have the free will to choose to tell myself positive things, and to strive for external goals which please me, but my brain has the ability to set itself on that track, and I have just enough feeling of control to have fun along the way. It may not be my free choice to do so, but my brain can tell itself not to do some things, and to do other things, and it can influence its own priorities and desires. The physical conditions and groundwork may entirely explain these behaviors, but like a child given a controller which isn't plugged in to the game console, I'm happy enough to take credit for the things I can do and have done that feel like impressive achievements. The more times I get lucky, and the conditions are right, the more times I get to enjoy it all over again. And I find myself doing positive things, and negative things, but I still cherish it all. I may be a construct of my biology, but the things that I love influences the things I do, and while I may not have free will, I still find myself choosing (or, my mind deciding) to see the beauty in life, and to strive for a life of beauty.
In my opinion, sometimes people with depression may become confused, believing that only they see reality. However, this is a vicious circle that causes them to remain in their depression. It can be beneficial to consciously shift their thinking, focusing on positive aspects of their life and challenging their negative thought patterns. Seeking help from professionals like therapists and counselors can provide the tools and support needed to break this cycle. Meditation, exercise, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle can also contribute to improving one's mental state. Remember, it's important to reach out and not to endure these struggles alone.
We’re all created equally, created in the image of God. If you love this man, his mind, you’re gonna really LOVE GOD, if you allow your free will to expand into awareness that we are spirits and get to know and enjoy a relationship with Him, if you haven’t 💝, already. 🥳
It's strange, for such a smart man with so much knowledge that he is willing to eloquently communicate,why is the comment section always full of people that clearly have no idea what the Dr. Says so they just slap a compliment that looks like they might understand something he said.
Robert Sapolsky stating literature is not a realm in which he does well is laughable. He is that rare beast whose factual writing is also beautiful and compelling.
Dr. Robert Sapolsky is so far ahead of our time it's hard to even fathom. He gives me hope for humanity's future and I'm happier because I know he exists and have access to his ideas. Thank you.
This book has had a huge impact on me too! We as learner’s of his work need to help spread it about with family and friends and use our social media to bring the truth of neurobiology, determinism and it’s implications to as many as possible
Are a bot? This is nonsense. If anything, the notion of not having free will means we are all hopeless and are a slave to whatever the universe conjectured up during it's birth. Meaning, if you are going to commit a crime thats going to land you in prison and cause years of suffering, theres nothing you can do about it since it's been predetermined. This is worse than what most angelic religions propose.
Adore Robert Sapolsky. Such a clear thinker and so articulate. I agree with 99% of his beliefs and ideas. I tend to think we have a slight bit of free will, although how we define "free will" matters. In other words, Robert himself would agree that we do have the ability to decide whether we floss our top teeth or bottom teeth first, but that this doesn't constitute free will.
There are a lot of strategies to make tongue-wetting profit that the average joes don't know. . Personally, the financial-market for me seems the only way forward with my long time horizon (accrued roughly $457k in gains since Mid 2021 ) but if you don’t have that fortune of time it’s a tough market out there almost nowhere feels safe!
@wilsonkelvin2531 I've known I had wanted to start investing for a few months but just haven't been brave enough to start due to the market so far this year. I have $60k I want to transfer into an S&S ISA but it's hard to bite the bullet and do it. $457 is a huge milestone, Please what's your strategy? I will love to have an insight
Dr Sapolsky is speaking clearly and in depth about the reality of the physical substrate of consciousness. However, doing away with praise is a bad idea. Praise is one of the positives that help properly raise a human.
I need to listen again because I also struggle a bit with "no praise" or perhaps it's all in the language. Instead of praise, one might say, "How fortunate you have been that the history of the universe has led to that beautiful poem you just wrote!"
Hey!!! Love listening to you talk Prof Sapolsky. BUT I remember a science program about quantum physics which said that actually the laws apply in the everyday world of waves on the sea and not just at a subatomic level as originally thought. I can't begin to imagine what this means for our brains but it feels correct that we are all trapped by circumstances including health problems. Hence free will is difficult to measure unless of course with the same person in slightly different time periods!
I would also add the class struggle phenomenon to this. The Abrahamic crime and punishment system also serves the class struggle by shielding the elites who commit crimes and consolidating the underclasses who are prone to neurological "bad luck"
Even more enlightening than a brilliant Sapolsky lecture - in part because it enlightens us about his emotional response to his own denial of free will and responsibility. What was missing, however, is acknowledgment that those concepts intelligently applied can reinforce or change behavior to good ends. They are real from the point of view of an agent confronted with choices, though they correspond to nothing objective in "the view from nowhere." That's the difference between "I was only following orders" and a brain tumor messing up prefrontal cortex. The circuitry allows thoughts about free will and responsibility (or rather, their neural implementations) to make a difference in the former case, not the latter.
Hello! I saw you in another comment thread that I disagreed with, but I think you make an interesting point about our neurons allowing for thoughts about free will and responsibility in the first place.
Is it just me or does it feel like a relief to not be in control and not have purpose? Feels like I can’t fail or succeed and I can just enjoy the ride lol. Control and purpose seems like so much work lol.
Very interesting conversation of the common neural thread of humanity. I'm so glad that somehow I'm an optimistic person who looks for happy non-violent opportunities to solve conflicts. I'm also glad that I never needed to learn to use tools [weapons] of violence to earn a living. Nurturing behavioral habits toward others and self are a blessing.
Because the absence of free will does not take away the effect human actions have. It is humans that do things. Those actions have consequences. No free will also doesn't mean everything is determined. Not everything being determined does also not mean we can't make predictions in terms of probability that people will do x or y given certain circumstances. Look into complex systems (a more precise definitions of beginning terms does not mean a more accurate result at the end of the equation), emergence (instead of cause and effect) - how things emerge at other levels of organisation without it being determined by the underlying conditions (how knowledge about a motor doens't teach us much about cars and how knowledge about cars doesn't determine how traffic works) So we can say: "the damage we have done". The question is, are we responsible in the way we use that term now. What are the consequences of responsibility. Are there consequences or is it rather a question of "how do we go about this, when we see the effects of our actions?"
Let us build a world where everyone is treated with love and compassion no matter who they are or what they have done because we know that ultimately everyone’s behavior is decided by things beyond their control.
It may please you that according to Marx, it is only a matter of time before we achieve such a society. Through a materialistic view of history, one can see that this is the direction in which social development is going. (Unless we destroy the environment to the extent that it becomes impossible to live on the planet in the process)
Free will is an idea anchored in the realm of the spirit (as in like espirit de corps). It operates independently on material/physical realm. Fantasies are a manifestation of will and no physical/biological detection for their existence exist. And yet fantasies live and breathe in us. Great talk.
you missed the point... and there ARE manifestations of fantasies in the brain, just like with any thoughts or memories. They can actually see neurons firing when you do those things. There is no spirit realm in reality.
This book has had a huge impact on me too! We as leaders of his work need to help spread it about with family and friends and use our social media to bring the truth of neurobiology, determinism and it’s implications to as many as possible
@@tudoravram2305 the new book determined is pre ordered and this interview predates the new book entirely, the book this video draws on the most by Saplosky is his great book called behave which i bought on release years ago 👌
Just some thoughts that the talk gave me. In terms of the "just following orders" issue, i would suggest that in taking a scientific approach, we can see the actions/behaviours (that the orders generated) as being resultant from the situation and environment in which these actions occurred - that is to say if we determine the orders to be aberrant we have to look at the environment and systems that surround it in order to affect any real change. This means that the focus shouldn't be on "punishing" an individual so much as understanding why they have done what they did, and how to reduce or prevent that in the future. Take the example given of police violence, maybe even more specific if we consider the current ongoing trial, it is clearly not the result of singular "bad apples" or "free will" but systems and culture that promote and protect the violence of police officers. Convicting a police officer of murder for killing a suspect will not prevent this behaviour in the future, but changing the culture and systems of the police can.
The thing is: we can not know scientifically, whether there is a significant degree of freedom within our lives. I do trust there is. It helped me to overcome depression after being stuck in a (nonscientific but ubiquitous) physicalism. Granted, the latter is better than all major and minor religions that I came across. The truth of all matter, though, is: There is an amazing sense and meaning in life which is beyond our abilities but may be grasped and touched in even moved by us.
Thank you for the great interview. Sapolsky is a brilliant man. One serious question: at 23:38, on the subject of using both medication and psychotherapy to treat depression, Sapolsky says: “what the medication does is it breaks the back of the depression. It gets you a first foothold on the beach, and what the psychotherapy now allows you to do is be able to actually have the psychic energy to start doing the hard work to figure out how you got there and how you can do things differently to change that.” My question: there is no free will in "doing the hard work"? Doesn't doing the hard work imply conscious, directed effort (and therefore employing free will to do, or not do, this)? I guess he is implicitly saying that a patient's choice to do the hard work or not is not a choice at all. But when I heard this it struck me as counter to his thesis. Anyone care to chime in on this?
Yeah, interesting comment there. Also at ~ 1:01:07, what he spoke struck me as counter to his thesis too. (´･_･`) Meh. Edit: Just read through username: manimal 7's comment above... Hmmm. Enough of the comment reading here from me now :)
Not having free will doesn't mean that one can't exert conscious effort to get or change an outcome. It just means that when or if you decide to do so or not, the mechanisms involved are not within your conscious choice. A person who goes through the process to find a therapist, work well with the therapist, etc. does so based on a whole host of factors that are not determined by the person. E.g., A person may not engage optimally in therapy because of traits of a personality disorder, which may have arisen because of biological vulnerability, together with environmental triggers, which then may have led to substance use, which may have led to cognitive decline, etc. etc.
There’s still no free will. It will come down to a probabilistic decision that is weighed for outcome. E.g. maybe you have been depressed for so long and felt so bad that you finally get up and go to the doctors.
@@Tamarahope77 You are confusing the limitations that human beings have, as a matter of just being human, and determinism. The very fact that someone needs to do hard work and chooses to do hard work is simply the definition of Free Will. The ability to choose anything over something else is THE DEFINITION of Free Will. You don't get to choose everything because of physical limitations but you get to choose things within your reach.
@@d1d234 I think you'll find that when proponents of the argument against free will (such as Sapolsky, Sam Harris) talk about choices, they acknowledge that we have conscious choices but the choices emerge from background causes that we have no awareness of, nor have conscious control over. To quote Sam Harris, “The phrase free will simply describes what it feels like to identify with certain mental states as they arise in consciousness...You then become conscious of this ‘decision’ and believe that you are in the process of making it...We do not have the freedom we think we have."
I would love to see Dr.Sapolsky and Dr. Peterson, discuss free will and philosophy. I feel not only would we benefit, but I think it would be good for his new book, it would be enriching for all of us
Peterson is a crook that has nothing to offer. his rambling about hierarchy and conservative ideas about society would be completely smashed by Robert.
@@ondrejplachy297 either way I think it would benefit all parties Involved. Not to mention the amusement of such a circumstance, where one or the others ideas are "smashed" as you say.
Using a reductive two valued logic~either yes or no, is probably not a wise way to gauge whether human life has any freedom to choose. What if in most ways we don't have free will, but in a few we potentially do and these can be accentuated through practice? By applying 3 or 4 valued logic~ yes, no, both and indeterminate we can keep our minds open to new evidence.
Psychology tells us that to be mentally healthy we need to have meaning and purpose, as well as a sense of achievement (among other needs). If these are scientifically illusory, then they remain necessary for healthy survival.
Yes, and there are alternatives to the existential crisis and deep depression, including new 'functional' core narratives and related rituals. The perspective called "religious naturalism" for example is such a solution and includes a deep reverence for life but no supernaturalism. Paradoxically, I suspect Dr. Sapolsky's upbringing led to such a hard swing of the pendulum away from theism that he landed on a cosmology totally devoid of meaning and purpose. Sentient creatures have brought meaning and purpose into the universe - they are not woven into the fabric as theism suggests.
Most of your conscious control is the timing of cascades of synchronization from the breath down. You can regulate biological functions through the rate of breathing, neuronal firing, immune response, adrenal response etc. But you can’t change the conditions or mechanisms. So in a terribly smelling room you can’t make a huge difference with slow deep breaths. And under intense conditions it may be hard to keep awareness of your breathe instead of act instinctively. A trained military agent will take control of their breath before taking action. People do it instinctively in stressful situations. When the biology takes over in a panic attack you lose control of your breath. Problem is we never teach people how to use their breath. You can probably tell who the killer is going to be if you had access to their breathing patterns half an hour before committing the act.
I adore Robert Sapolsky’s mind and also think he’s contributed SOOOO MUCH, and continues, to human understanding, as well as all Primate behavior and neurological knowledge. I don’t think the issue here is so much that we don’t have free will, as in there being a ghost in the machine, but rather what is the qualia of experience that makes each of us feel as if we do and gives rise to the notion and linguistic currency of free will. We with our level of intelligence and capacity for abstract thought, in the manner that we do with our cognizant ability being what it is, allows for awareness of our own deliberating, assessing, determining, and making choices, which consciously has the feeling for each of us as if we’re free agents, even when everything that goes to conscious awareness may have been determined subconsciously to begin with, as like what a computer sends to the monitor with the latter being conscious awareness. I don’t think this notion is simply a mere construction, as like from a religious teaching, but rather would have required a sentiment for such pre-existing in order for any claim of such to be accepted. Regarding morality, humans are naturally social beings, thus whatever is this “social” part of our being that makes mutually beneficial social functioning possible is at root our natural “morality.” Of course, then come the constructed embellishments that amalgamate with our natural status as social beings.
![Robert Sapolsky on science, morality, religion and human behavioral biology [Vert Dider] 2017](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VrQkl7PaA1s/mqdefault.jpg)
Robert Sapolsky is easily one of the most clear-thinking and informed science communicators alive. What a fantastic asset to science, culture, and humanity.
He is quite the opposite actually. He is simply a scripted ruling class actor.
@@nalahhuru9915 go attack he police
@@nalahhuru9915May I ask why you hold that opinion?
@@atypicaltexan3834 Sapolsky is funded by Stamford, a statist instution. His "research" is never going to disrupt, and will most likely promote validity of a ruling class. The "no free will" meme is a prime example. His worshippers here, take his words as "truth" like faith-based religionists.
@@nalahhuru9915 He has cooperative evidence from other behavior researchers. Are all of them subservient to the ruling class?
I’ve gotten to the point where I need to hear Robert Sapolsky’s voice everyday. He is my antidepressant ❤️❤️❤️
Try Mr. Sean M. Carroll also! 😉
I completely agree.
If there's one person whom I would choose to be in charge of public policy -- based on scientific evidence, not on beliefs, biases or ideology -- it would be him.
Yes Sean and Robert are both amazing!!
@jona Interesting you should mention Penrose. He thinks quantum mechanics has something to do with consciousness, but almost all neuroscientists think this is nonsense. Of course, since Penrose is a 'geometrical wizard', and won the 2020 Nobel in physics, his ideas are at least listened to. Interestingly enough, back in the day he himself said that had he published any of his really speculative theories before he became famous, he never would had a career in science. Once met him; he's a very nice guy -- and a genius.
Sapolsky is one of my heros. Absolutely fantastic mind. The most honest and scientific phrase in my opinion is "we simply don`t know, yet".
As a forty plus year "depressive" Professor Sapolsky is an inspiration, thank you for the gift of this interview
I can relate . 'Mushroom Cloud Romance' ruclips.net/video/JKbZLww4rZc/видео.html is on elf our tunes for these times.
❤
I feel so lucky that I found Robert Sapolsky. He’s so honest and brilliant! I always think about what he says and how important all his hard work will be so improve our thinking and the world.
Sapolsky is underrated as a comedic genius. He's got a quickdraw wit that shakes your mind awake, making sure you're listening to the actual content of his message, with humor.
This book has had a huge impact on me too! We as learner’s of his work need to help spread it about with family and friends and use our social media to bring the truth of neurobiology, determinism and it’s implications to as many as possible
Robert Sapolsky is a shining example of someone who has a LOT of knowledge in many fields and therefore realises what he still does not know
I don’t understand why people who realize there is no free will get depressed or unmotivated to do anything. It was literally the opposite for me. This realization makes life worth living to me because I know there is no arbitrary standard I must compare myself to. I now have motivation to do whatever and I’m happy because I don’t constantly worry if I’m “failing at life”.
Except libet studies about free will were refuted recently in Berlin and he himself believed in free will. You are just desperately trying to get rid of god lol
@@cyberreality7774 I don’t think you understand. The existence of God makes you less free than if there weren’t. How would getting rid of God accomplish anything?
@@cyberreality7774 that has nothing to do with God and if he knows everything we are going to do, then we cannot do anything else other than that thing meaning there is no other choice, which is the entire point of free will.
@@thebelligerentbull it's interesting that perhaps free will is more possible when we put "God" or a higher level version of our self in charge as apposed to living by ego and reactivity. Kind of an interesting intersection of non-duality and neurobiology.
It's called individuality. One person is happy it's raining whilst another is miserable it's raining.
Just because there's no free will does not mean we're all going to think and behave the same given the same situation/outlook.
I love this guy, you see the combination of great empathy, great knowledge and great ability to communicate he has rather rarely. Worth listening to!
agreed Im a practicing buddhist and I love this guy as from my perspective he seems to support our philosophical approach
In other words: "Believing in freewill is not free. Some of us believe in it, some of us don't. However even that is not free." Thanks man for this interview.
Agreed, there is no free will according to ideologies such as antinatalism based on consent. Seems like inherent optimism bias and terror management theory will always help though.
@Pavel Litkin Could you elaborate more on that? I thought your comment interesting.
@Pavel Litkin Exactly. The hard problem of consciousness (as it is called), is what separates humans from robots and allows us to choose to do things. What surprises me is that this psychologist along with many other materialists do not acknowledge the research that has shown that we have free will thanks to having consciousness and being able to choose between different sets of actions despite whatever chemicals reactions we might be feeling, (such as adrenaline, excitement, and so forth and so on). Humans are not 100% predictable robots that make decisions based off of binary code yet materialists think otherwise.
Word salad. The man has his own head up his ass and is just repackaging Talmudism.
@@johnbloom1109
Just because you have the ability to make choices doesn’t mean you have free will. In order to believe in free will you must also believe in causeless effects. You cannot will what you want, period.
I'm a fine artist in my mid 20's, and my career has taken off a lot more quickly than I expected. Rather than feeling particularly talented or sophisticated, or superior to my peers, Sapolsky has confirmed my suspicion that I'm not any more valuable than the starving artist, nor less valuable than the millionaire painter. To make peace with the absence of free well, in my head I base my own value on how kind and empathetic I am towards the people around me. A life of artistic compassion and mindful kindness significantly softens the blow of reality.
Tuning in to Professor Sapolsky in 2021. His teaching reached me 10 years after his behavioral science series and his lectures resonate with my long-held suspicions about how we operate. Leaving sincere appreciation here today. Thank you for speaking on those notions we've wrongly held.
Sounds like you agree with him because he provides you with the confirmation bias you need to feel better about yourself.
This comment makes me dislike you
@@firewithfire848 sounds like you made that aggresive comment to manage the cognitive dissonance that you got into, from listening to someone who disagrees with you and provides evidence. Afraid of letting go? Loosing the illusion of control? See i can do the dumb dumb too.
@@firewithfire848 like a good program you are! XOOXO
This is the single most enlightening conversation I've ever heard. Great job Vert. And as always, thanks to creation for the genius of Dr. Saplosky!
Wes Cecil has some very intriguing lectures on his channel. He has a series of lectures on how having a solid sense of identity and belonging with your peer group is mandatory to have a sense of security and contentment.
lol
Thank you Dr. Sapolsky for changing the circumstances for better for everyone who every time decides to watch any of your videos.
Brilliant neuroscientist but a weak moral philosopher. Can someone explain why we humans can't have personal agency AND a strong neurobiological bias?
Robert Sapolsky makes so much sense, very thankful for having access to him sharing his thoughts and experience, really comforting.
mr. Robert is such a great guy, he found time to explain Serbian psychotherapist some questions that i had. he taught me to be humble and find time to answer every one.
Sorry my English , I’m Norwegian🇳🇴🇳🇴 …
It’s the best answer on depression I’ve heard in my whole life (I’m 44)
(From my experience with depression in my teenages an as an adult … ) Better than the doctors and even most psychiatrist I’ve met . And your’re so right : BOTH psychotherapi and antidepressives . But unfortunately we don’t get both … We get the antidepressives & we use them unsupervised …..
Love to listen to this professors knowledge. I can continue to listen at Robert Sapolsky for hours :)👏👏👏👏
I love how intellectually honest he is. I appreciate him more now.
Same!
Awww... he’s depressed. 😥 please tell Dr Robert Sapolsky that he is a wonderful person and a wonderful teacher. I truly feel happiness when I see a new video with him on it. Please tell him that though life is pointless his has not been and will never be. Tell him he has touched and helped so many. Tell him he has helped me so much and I wish I could thank him.
One great thing about the internet is it allows us to listen to such bright minds. I have been listening to Sapolsky on a couple of occasions, as well as a few other « regulars » (usually scientists) who help me find some peace of mind, marvel at the wonders of the universe, or merely reflect upon the human condition and the times we are living through. Nobody has the absolute truth, of course, but these people are a major source of inspiration to me, and help me carry on. 😊
@Madolite Meaning in life is vital to survive. Meaning for me is purpose for living, a motivation to take individual responsibility for yourself and be the best person you could be. Many people without meaning in their life commit atrocities or suicide. The chemicals in their brain change and become depressed.
Sapolsky is an actor on the pay roll of a ruling class funded school whose job is to make the ruled feel there is no reason to try to improve and become a free society with no ruling class.
Sapolsky is a Jew
@@insme That is irrelevant. Your words here demonstrate hate and a lack of intelligence. Be gone.
He reminds me of a lovely trainer who thinks in similar ways about dementia. Having been through a version of this and how incapacitating it can be Robert is a fresh air. Medical cannabis has been a blessing in allowing my brain to rest and reorder itself somewhat. Thanks for the great rewire gurus. I have a child that is completely different to anyone else I have met previously. It has been a challenging journey at times. Going against the grain of societies musts has been difficult.
Look into mycology they are doing some amazing research into fungi and all the amazing things it can do for the brain, cancer, psychological disorders the immune system etc.
Growing lions mane now.
@@mysterymaverick1982 True!
Robert sapolsky at his best!
I really enjoyed this interview.
i used to be an addict and aftwards often thought i was depressed, i probably was. I couldnt change it, and consistently my mood is at a lower average level than that of others.
i have found that way of thinking to be erronious though.. ive dealt with it by accepting that my normal bar of happiness is at a different level to that of others.
once i accepted that and altered my manner of doing things i felt better about myself. not because im less depressed but because i see myself in terms of my capacities now instead of through comparison to others...it hasnt mad me the life of the party, im still an unsociable grumpy somewhat miserable git... but its made it bearable in my own mind unlike before.
i changed the benchmark of comparison through learning, through understanding my failures not as failures or shortcomings but simply as different route to get where we all need to go....through life
I’ve had ideas around the lack of free will for many years and it wasn’t until I read his book that I really got it. I have also suffered with depression (runs in the fam) and I have a theory that depression (and similar mental disorders) may in fact be the reason we accept lack of free will and understand it better than many others. We are so aware of the limitations and control our brain has over our lives that we are saturated with feeling out of control. Depression and anxiety can highlight these feelings.
I like your line of thinking and your user name. Have a good day bro
I tend towards agreeing with your conclusion that neurodivergency or mental health issues primes someone to being able to more readily accept a lack of free will, I (at least heavily believe) that I suffer from executive dysfunction and a number of other symptoms of ADHD, my whole life I've had to negotiate with myself around why I did or didn't do something and had to recognize a distinct lack of a sense of agency for a number of my failures, if I was to hold onto a belief in free will then I would of destroyed myself mentally at the weight of all my failures being some fault of my conscious.
Bang on !
@@sierralynch8325I, at 40, recently realized I have ADHD. That realization has brought with it an increased awareness of my lapses of executive function: areas like impulse control, emotional regulation, prioritization, time management, etc. I haven't figured out how to improve my performance yet; I'm just more acutely aware of my lapses as they're happening. I feel I have very little control over my actions most of the time. I'm very much at the whim is my brain.
This interviewer asks such sincere and smart questions...Really appreciate that he draws Spolasky out to wrestle with the implications of no free will.
I wrap my head around no free will, no blame, and no praise by remembering what I was taught in Sunday school..love everyone and forgive. ( Like SPOLASKY I have been an atheist since childhood) It will be a much better world when we grow to accept we are all equal and all deserve to have our needs meet..The status quo is cruel and leads to a world of hurt...the minority enjoy extreme wealth and privilege while the majority suffer.. I hope our institutions will be able to evolve before the current state of inequality breaks us.
This one deserves a second watch
He never fails to enlighten me when I listen. He makes the world a better place.
I felt pretty depressed when I realized I was an atheist, but every time I meet another atheist or watch a video with atheist speakers I feel less depressed! And more like I'm part of a community 🙂 a really awesome community!
We are all wise in our own eyes....
@@Mr196710 ok?
@@Mr196710In your eyes, are you wise for saying this?
@@creativechristinaa Is anyone ever truly wise? Are you Buddhist? Have you truly destroyed the ego? Which scientist said a little science takes you away from God but a lot brings you back? See Americans are impulse shoppers in all aspects of their lives and that includes philosophy-right?
I know Dr. Sapolsky is an atheist.
But I thank GOD for me being able to watch and listen to him!
Why not the devil?
Great Mr Sapolsky! I admire you and I thank you for the wisdom you spread around the world!
To me it's liberating to know life is meaningless. Yes it can be depressing knowing that we are victims of our circumstances & that many of us are given a raw deal in life, but it can also make us more compassionate knowing this, & can allow us to appreciate the amazing things we have created.
I love Robert Sapolsky. His lectures have been so helpful for me
Record this man doing anything is the smartest decision, years down the line we will come back to this
Thanks for the great questions! Reading 'Behave' has definitely changed my worldview forever.
beautiful program I am a practicing niche rein buddhist an dI have followed dr sapolsky for number of years although
or views of religiosity slightly different I find many of his lectures truly help me better understand try buddhist practice
thanks doc I will keep on watching...
I have always been a big fan of Robert Sapolsky, as well as someone who believes in science and reality. Robert challenges you to forget about what you know from watching TV, and actually THINK: something many people are incapable of, or unwilling to do.
i think both. incapable because they have been brainwashed since childhood to think a certain way & believe certain things about the world and life. Unwilling because later on their brain has already been wired a certain way and questioning the blind beliefs that one held all along will be uncomfortable and just too much work.
This book has had a huge impact on me too! We as learner’s of his work need to help spread it about with family and friends and use our social media to bring the truth of neurobiology, determinism and it’s implications to as many as possible
"someone who believes in science and reality".... You will hardly ever find scientists using the term "reality" because the beast can not be tamed... Think quantum field theory, non locality, quantum tunneling etc. Science has given up trying to understand the fundamental nature of reality long ago. The Newtonian billiard balls of cause and effect are long dead. Refer if you will Alfred North Whitehead.
This is a peaceful perspective and it's absolutely true
Even without "freewill" we can still have a sense of identity. For one, we still are alive, we are unique and no one is ever going to share your exact experiences in life as you are. The way your brain works and makes decisions and feels is totally unique to you and the experiences the universe has put you through. We still make decisions and have choices even if those choices are ultimately a result of a measurable physical process. We can take the knowledge we have gained and better ourselves. The future may be deterministic in theory, but in practice it is totally impossible to know exactly what is going to happen in the future. So we live life to see what happens next. Just because a book has a pre-written ending doesn't mean reading the book is pointless.
I wish I could give 10 upvotes for you because you explained it perfectly. We're here to experience it and having everything pretermined shouldn't take the joy out of it. You can enjoy book or a movie too even if the ending has already been decided.
how can you learn and better yourself if you don't have free will? 😂
The fact that it is absolutely impossible to know exactly the future doesn't make the future less deterministic. Also I would make a distinction between determinism and pre-determined. Pre-determined means that a certain future state of the universe is set and known (to speack of something being set is for something to know that state), while determinism involves only uninterrupted causal nexus, without any knowledge of a future state (it may be predicted to some amount, but never totally). So there is nothing that pre-determines from the past that someone X will die at age 72 in a car accident bla bla bla, only when you get to that point you can retro-analyze some of the causes and conditions that determined the event. The one with ''better ourselves'' is sketchy also. Bettering is just what we thing it would be of more use to us projected from the present moment that this cognition is happening. So when one says ''I bettered myself'' or '' I will better myself'' what does one mean? He is in a state mode desired that he once was and in a future state I want to be different in a, b, c modes than I am now and that I am imagining myself to be in the future if I don't act and do so and so.
@@cjayroughgarden1520 If not burning yourself is considered a bettering o oneself, than learning to not burn yourself betters yourself in comparison to the moment you considered you were not bettered. If I consider that learning to ride the bicicle betters myself, that I will do so. That is not to say that any of the thoughts, and emotions for this proccess were not fully determined, but the actual inner experience is experienced as if one does this things and chooses to do them and feels he's the agent. You can never get rid of the feeling of agency, just acknowledge that it is just that: a feeling, not an ontological truth.
Inspiring words, especially the book comparison
Worth a dozen professors. This man can communicate. More… thank you
When my Ego hears me thinking about there being no free will.. it paradoxably draws strength from the idea and says back "Ah now that I know this I will keep an eye on what influences my decisions and how I influence others, this will aid me in making more sober decisions". It's so weird and reminds me of something I've seen Sapolsky mention in another lecture "Gaining the strength and will to do X from the irrefutable evidence that X cannot be".
I just landed on the same conclusion!
Do you have a link to that lecture? I believe “Gaining the strength/will to do x from the irrefutable evidence that x cannot be done” is useful in many contexts
Is it his last lecture in the behavioural biology class? I remember similar concepts coming up there
I recently discovered Sapolsky only a few weeks ago and I am so glad. He's my new Neil de Grasse Tyson, Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. Fascinating guy, excellent speaker.
{:-:-:}
His lectures are free on the Stanford University RUclips channel.
@@AdaptiveApeHybrid
Yes, that's where I first found him!
{:-:-:}
I like Hitchens too! I appreciate people who are critical thinking and science-leaning..and those who don't believe in sky-daddies to save them!
@@A.K.00
🙂
He really is an excellent speaker and possess a haircut that cries out credibility and enlightenment. But that does not mean his 100% materialistic views are correct. Refer perhaps Alfred North Whitehead for a view of the universe that makes more sense than "it all started at the big bang in a single moment for absolutely no reason at all."
Mr Sapolsky says of how morality feel. Is the way I feel, love neuroscience knowing more and more make you realise how our minds work it's just breath taking.
Understanding that people are the way they are because of factors they had no control over has made me so much kinder as a person. I’m not perfect at it but I understand at least a little now that even the worst people are ultimately unlucky on a certain level and I don’t have to hate them or wish them to suffer to oppose by harm they do.
I really wish Dr. Sapolsky could know how much I appreciate him, even if I didn't have a choice and neither did he. Lol. What a weird concept
Edit: I also appreciate the interviewer for conducting a great interview and bringing us this great content. Thanks Vert!
best comment :)
Thank you, interviewer, for delving into the thought-provoking topic of free will with Robert Sapolsky on this podcast. Sapolsky's ideas on free will have always fascinated me, and it was intriguing to hear his distinction between change and free will, which is like a teaser for his upcoming book set to release in October 2023. I'm eagerly looking forward to diving deeper into Sapolsky's insights on this complex subject. In the meantime, I'll continue exploring related resources to satisfy my curiosity about how change comes about. Great podcast! Can't wait for the book release!
Thanks so much for this, it's the longest interview I've seen with him clearly expressing his knowledge in this area.
This book has had a huge impact on me too! We as learner’s of his work need to help spread it about with family and friends and use our social media to bring the truth of neurobiology, determinism and it’s implications to as many as possible
Super interesting talk. Robert Sapolsky mellows me out.
@Micah That is the ruling class' goal. To mellow you out, to tame you, be convinced you have no control over anything, and just submit to their will.
It’s interesting that knowing that there’s no free will creates depression for him, I’ve had anxiety my whole life like his wife, incredible anxiety, it brings me comfort knowing there’s no free will.
To me this means all we need to do is bend the needle for a new trajectory, like machines our people will turn and correct course if we do this right.
Flooding the world with education, de programming the hate and re-programming with love. I see a lot of darkness in the future but I see a lot of light and opportunity should the right people be allowed to take influence.
What a Time to be alive, all of this education, all of these intellects and who knows what we can do with this place! Possibly survive after all. We are more machine than we think
Excellent observations! Great comment.
Great comment!
But he is not saying we are "machine like"... He is saying we are 100% electro chemical simplistic machines that have absolutely zero control or choice in our own lives... Which no one believes to be true per their day to day actions and experience... Not even the criminal on death row. His thinking is an over stretch of simple Newtonian billiard balls, that simple cause and effect applies to absolutely everything in human life. No, there are certain things under our conscious control. There is such a thing as potential and choices.
@@showponyexpressify I tend to agree with him. I believe it's like destiny written. I suppose I'm just a little more hopeful in the trajectory and whom will eventually gain power. Of course I am not in the know, anybody could end up in power based on destiny's thinking. I do believe that we could not possibly know all the data written in somebody's hippocampus, not even if we had everything about their life written. For example you have 100 choices written in your hippocampus to make a decision, we can predict which decision you might make but we can't know for sure. We may however have the data of all 100 pieces if we know every type of Cinema you've ever watched every piece of experience you've ever had, but how do you collect all that data on a human being? Let alone all human beings? He probably knows a lot more about whom is in power than I do and that's probably behind his dismal belief in the trajectory perhaps it's best to be blinded and easier to shuffle through life, but shuffle we do...
@@bluehairkim1 So you don't believe in potential or possibilities..? that must feel horrible. Isn't that why we find flowers and kittens beautiful - because they speak of potentiality and new life...
On the flip side, I guess in a billiard ball mechanistic universe there is no regret for one's mistakes either, no one ever does anything wrong - even the father that recently poured gasoline on his wife and kids here in Australia and premeditatively set them on fire - killing them, this could not have happened in any other way. No, I am sorry, I just don't experience this type of billiard ball universe. I live in a world of real possibilities that are provided by the Absolute, and a world where regret can be a real thing.. I would suggest the universe is more like a novel or play that is being written in real-time, and that the absolute being is intimately along with us for the ride, drawing all things towards greater and greater levels of novelty and which may or may not succeed. And would refer any readers of this comment to the ideas of Alfred North Whitehead.
This interview is a revelation on many levels. A++
Very refreshing, makes perfect sense. Thank you
Robert Sapolsky takes away the blame and the Stigma from Depression I Love him and thank ihm For That so much
His neighbours are just like “never before has eavesdropping been so educational.”
😁
😆
free lectures
😆😅🤣🤣🤣Eunice, you are wonderful!!!😂
..love that it starts out with Blind Willie Johnson on guitar humming with his wife...
Lunchtime pickup soccer back in the late 80's at Stanford...wow Bob hasn't changed a bit.
Can't get enough of Robert Sapolsky. Love it if this were 3 times as long lol.
Great video
Thank you Robert!!! We adore you!!! Love listening to you!!! Watched all your lectures at Stanford! Keep going!
The idea that completely determined, unfree machines like ourselves ever came up with the concept of free will in the first place is so absurd that the universe must have a sense of irony.
The idea that completely determined machines could even HAVE concepts is absurd. Alas we do, so we must be more than such machines.. What that more is, I dont think any of us really knows.
GOLDEN
This is so interesting! and i've felt the same as RS for ages about the lack of free will. The challenge this interview raises for me is how can we "truly feel" anything? Without blame, hate and praise... Is love anything more than another social construct? How should we choose to do anything without purpose / the feeling of purpose? And lastly if "feelings" are only neurochemistry, what behaviour should we display from a burst of serotonin or dopamine or cortisol and by that same problem, what things should cause those neuro-chemistries.... is the only 'true' philosophy nialism? is everything nothing?? AAAAAHHHHHH! *EXISTENTIAL MELT DOWN* (AGAIN!)
I love the phrase that there is much less free will than we thought, however I would love to have discussion with him discussing deep buddhist philosophy
Careful there. Nihilism is like a philosophical mobius strip. An existential trap of perpetual defeatism. The purpose in life is simply to live it. To observe the universe around you and marvel at it, and apply that to your actions. Remember Hamlet: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." In other words, no one knows what's next, even someone as brilliant as Sapolsky. I hope that gives you a little comfort.
@@charlessomerset9754 It does.
I don't think a lack of free will means a lack of purpose. For example, manu people who have gone through horrible experiences (such as being raised in a cult, being abused) can become advocates for helping those who suffer and find purpose in that. Sometimes it might be just enough to try to be a decent human being to another and realize we are in this shit show called life together, all swayed by the currents of life and our experiences.
Also, some of the things attributed to free will are still available. You can for example take time for meditation or similar to strengthen your inhibitive capabilities to make (presumably) better decisions.
The neurotransmitters are a complex thing, but from my understanding, a simplified version is that dopamine is a molecule that relates to finding rewarding behaviours and repeating them. Serotonin relates to sense of contentment. But there's a lot more to them and i don't understamd them at all. I mean excess serotonin in the form of serotonin syndrome causes hostility and anger in many people, among other things. And ofc it's not only the chemicals, but the meaning we attach to the experience. Adrenaline and noradrenaline gets released during excercise, playing a horror game or being robbed. The first two might be pleasurable experiences to some, while the latter probably not.
But i dunno. I've been in a chronic existential crisis for a long time. Knowing how fallible my emotions and instincts are cause me distress, but so does not allowing them too. I think the challenge is to be compassionate and accept mistakes, but i have tremendous mental and physiological issues so i am hypervigilant all the time, doing my best not to mess things up anymore. I too find it hard to understand how i should orient myself in life. What would be truly worth pursuing or attempting, what would be the optimal mindset or behaviour and are any of these even realistic for me? Am i doing more harm in doing something and to which extent should i care? Life is truly bizarre.
@@metheiam5714 great take!
The "lack of free will doesn't mean a lack of purpose".
I guess is what we have left, in the little grey zone that we don't know. The hope that there is something in which we could shape the outcome.
That's to me the most relevant question.
Could we shape our behaviour, so we can have certain outcomes? It was all biological evolution rules? If so, we could argue that the values we have are or could be replaced by luck or any exterior input during the evolution of our species / society.
So is there a moment where we choosed a path?
-hope you are doing better and stable- being stable is hard for many people. I'm struggling with that.
Best
I like this guy I watch his video lectures from Stanford all the time.
Sapolsky at his best! This is what “woke” looks like. Who’s in? Great questions, Vert!
Enlightened human who doesn't claim to have arrived.
He'll be "cancelled" any day now, mark these words.
Sapolsky is an actor on the pay roll of a ruling class funded school whose job is to make the ruled feel there is no reason to try to improve and become a free society with no ruling class.
@@LeeGee Why? Everything he’s saying is pretty consistent with scientific findings.
@@nalahhuru9915 nope
Thank you Dr....Brilliant. You help us so much!!!
I like this guy! Super approachable.
Zero free will does lead to a humbling and more understanding viewpoint
Great interviewer! I found the questions very intelligent!
I totally disagree. My sympathies are with Dr. Sapolsky. True RS is a great teacher. He's a great story teller. RS is New York in Berkeley - so jewish in a non jewish world. However, my sympathies are with him because we live in an "dumbing down" world of anti intellectual in pursue of knowlegde that as a society have no basis of understanding. The upside is we have RS teaching on the internet. Infomation on Demand. Amen
Great interview! Thanks
The way I see it, my brain function feels autonomous enough, and I can kinda derive some sense of identity from the actions my mind produces, so I live as such. I may not have the capacity to do things and think thoughts my brain's physiology cannot produce, but the thoughts and feelings I can have tend to allow me to have fun along the way.
I may not have the free will to choose to help a homeless person out by preparing meals with a local shelter or ministry, but the behavior can still be produced by my brain and the resulting chemical and neurological signals feel pleasurable enough.
I may not have the free will to choose to swing on a rope swing over the water, and watch fish jump, but I still will do it, and enjoy it.
I find more relief in the fact or possibility that I do not exist, that my mind was plopped here and I'm just an illusion of self, and my brain has the extremely slight ability to influence its behaviors. I may not have the free will to choose to tell myself positive things, and to strive for external goals which please me, but my brain has the ability to set itself on that track, and I have just enough feeling of control to have fun along the way.
It may not be my free choice to do so, but my brain can tell itself not to do some things, and to do other things, and it can influence its own priorities and desires. The physical conditions and groundwork may entirely explain these behaviors, but like a child given a controller which isn't plugged in to the game console, I'm happy enough to take credit for the things I can do and have done that feel like impressive achievements. The more times I get lucky, and the conditions are right, the more times I get to enjoy it all over again. And I find myself doing positive things, and negative things, but I still cherish it all.
I may be a construct of my biology, but the things that I love influences the things I do, and while I may not have free will, I still find myself choosing (or, my mind deciding) to see the beauty in life, and to strive for a life of beauty.
Beautiful comment
In my opinion, sometimes people with depression may become confused, believing that only they see reality. However, this is a vicious circle that causes them to remain in their depression. It can be beneficial to consciously shift their thinking, focusing on positive aspects of their life and challenging their negative thought patterns. Seeking help from professionals like therapists and counselors can provide the tools and support needed to break this cycle. Meditation, exercise, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle can also contribute to improving one's mental state. Remember, it's important to reach out and not to endure these struggles alone.
It's impossible not to love this man. This mind.
lol no
We’re all created equally, created in the image of God. If you love this man, his mind, you’re gonna really LOVE GOD, if you allow your free will to expand into awareness that we are spirits and get to know and enjoy a relationship with Him, if you haven’t 💝, already. 🥳
@@cookieccm2 No. Having a relationship with god sounds pedophilic in the way you describe.
Yeah, im not a fan of this quack. Lol
It's strange, for such a smart man with so much knowledge that he is willing to eloquently communicate,why is the comment section always full of people that clearly have no idea what the Dr. Says so they just slap a compliment that looks like they might understand something he said.
Robert Sapolsky stating literature is not a realm in which he does well is laughable. He is that rare beast whose factual writing is also beautiful and compelling.
I agree with Robert !! Every human has the freedom to choose between good n bad!! If unable to take action , at least think it to be bad!!👍
“ We didn’t start the fire “ ~ Billy Joel.
No free will.
The guest was great, but the questions posed were just as good. Thanks.
Dr. Robert Sapolsky is so far ahead of our time it's hard to even fathom. He gives me hope for humanity's future and I'm happier because I know he exists and have access to his ideas. Thank you.
This book has had a huge impact on me too! We as learner’s of his work need to help spread it about with family and friends and use our social media to bring the truth of neurobiology, determinism and it’s implications to as many as possible
Are a bot? This is nonsense. If anything, the notion of not having free will means we are all hopeless and are a slave to whatever the universe conjectured up during it's birth. Meaning, if you are going to commit a crime thats going to land you in prison and cause years of suffering, theres nothing you can do about it since it's been predetermined. This is worse than what most angelic religions propose.
@@johnbloom1109 no bot here. Sapolsky actually addresses this issue but I imagine you were too busy swimming in your own offense to notice.
@@Geeserunner Definitely a bot. You don't even speak proper English.
@@johnbloom1109 well I guess that just speaks volumes about how lonely you are if you're opting to interact with a bot in the RUclips comments.
Adore Robert Sapolsky. Such a clear thinker and so articulate. I agree with 99% of his beliefs and ideas. I tend to think we have a slight bit of free will, although how we define "free will" matters. In other words, Robert himself would agree that we do have the ability to decide whether we floss our top teeth or bottom teeth first, but that this doesn't constitute free will.
No he would say your a machine that can not even decide that. Sorry.
Fantastic interview! Quality questions
Omg ! I love dr. Sapolsky… it’s hard not to be in love with a brilliant mind !
There are a lot of strategies to make tongue-wetting profit that the average joes don't know. . Personally, the financial-market for me seems the only way forward with my long time horizon (accrued roughly $457k in gains since Mid 2021 ) but if you don’t have that fortune of time it’s a tough market out there almost nowhere feels safe!
@wilsonkelvin2531 I've known I had wanted to start investing for a few months but just haven't been brave enough to start due to the market so far this year. I have $60k I want to transfer into an S&S ISA but it's hard to bite the bullet and do it. $457 is a huge milestone, Please what's your strategy? I will love to have an insight
@wilsonkelvin2531 Word of the day: fiduciary. do not talk to anyone who is not a fiduciary to you, who explains everything.
@wilsonkelvin2531 Investment is that tiny line that separates the rich from the poor.
Dr Sapolsky is speaking clearly and in depth about the reality of the physical substrate of consciousness.
However, doing away with praise is a bad idea. Praise is one of the positives that help properly raise a human.
I need to listen again because I also struggle a bit with "no praise" or perhaps it's all in the language. Instead of praise, one might say, "How fortunate you have been that the history of the universe has led to that beautiful poem you just wrote!"
Great interview.
Hey!!! Love listening to you talk Prof Sapolsky. BUT I remember a science program about quantum physics which said that actually the laws apply in the everyday world of waves on the sea and not just at a subatomic level as originally thought. I can't begin to imagine what this means for our brains but it feels correct that we are all trapped by circumstances including health problems. Hence free will is difficult to measure unless of course with the same person in slightly different time periods!
I would also add the class struggle phenomenon to this. The Abrahamic crime and punishment system also serves the class struggle by shielding the elites who commit crimes and consolidating the underclasses who are prone to neurological "bad luck"
Lucky for the underclass they are the majority to be feared by the elites. Stanford professors and students are part of the elite.
Even more enlightening than a brilliant Sapolsky lecture - in part because it enlightens us about his emotional response to his own denial of free will and responsibility. What was missing, however, is acknowledgment that those concepts intelligently applied can reinforce or change behavior to good ends. They are real from the point of view of an agent confronted with choices, though they correspond to nothing objective in "the view from nowhere." That's the difference between "I was only following orders" and a brain tumor messing up prefrontal cortex. The circuitry allows thoughts about free will and responsibility (or rather, their neural implementations) to make a difference in the former case, not the latter.
Hello! I saw you in another comment thread that I disagreed with, but I think you make an interesting point about our neurons allowing for thoughts about free will and responsibility in the first place.
Is it just me or does it feel like a relief to not be in control and not have purpose? Feels like I can’t fail or succeed and I can just enjoy the ride lol. Control and purpose seems like so much work lol.
You might like Taoism as simplified in the Tao Te Ching and the concept of wu-wei/nonaction
Very interesting conversation of the common neural thread of humanity. I'm so glad that somehow I'm an optimistic person who looks for happy non-violent opportunities to solve conflicts. I'm also glad that I never needed to learn to use tools [weapons] of violence to earn a living. Nurturing behavioral habits toward others and self are a blessing.
But if there’s no free will how can one say “my god, the damage we have done.”?
Because the absence of free will does not take away the effect human actions have. It is humans that do things. Those actions have consequences. No free will also doesn't mean everything is determined. Not everything being determined does also not mean we can't make predictions in terms of probability that people will do x or y given certain circumstances. Look into complex systems (a more precise definitions of beginning terms does not mean a more accurate result at the end of the equation), emergence (instead of cause and effect) - how things emerge at other levels of organisation without it being determined by the underlying conditions (how knowledge about a motor doens't teach us much about cars and how knowledge about cars doesn't determine how traffic works)
So we can say: "the damage we have done". The question is, are we responsible in the way we use that term now. What are the consequences of responsibility. Are there consequences or is it rather a question of "how do we go about this, when we see the effects of our actions?"
@@MellisInc bullshit. unless you're deaf he clearly is saying everything is basically predetermined
@@boohoo54 I think you missed the point of his lectures, in more realistic terms it's that we're predictable as opposed to random.
Let us build a world where everyone is treated with love and compassion no matter who they are or what they have done because we know that ultimately everyone’s behavior is decided by things beyond their control.
❤
It may please you that according to Marx, it is only a matter of time before we achieve such a society. Through a materialistic view of history, one can see that this is the direction in which social development is going.
(Unless we destroy the environment to the extent that it becomes impossible to live on the planet in the process)
Free will is an idea anchored in the realm of the spirit (as in like espirit de corps). It operates independently on material/physical realm. Fantasies are a manifestation of will and no physical/biological detection for their existence exist. And yet fantasies live and breathe in us.
Great talk.
you missed the point...
and there ARE manifestations of fantasies in the brain, just like with any thoughts or memories. They can actually see neurons firing when you do those things.
There is no spirit realm in reality.
Another Sapolsky T shirt: "It's no one's fault"
This book has had a huge impact on me too! We as leaders of his work need to help spread it about with family and friends and use our social media to bring the truth of neurobiology, determinism and it’s implications to as many as possible
where did you manage to get this book if the official release is 17 october 2023?
@@tudoravram2305 the new book determined is pre ordered and this interview predates the new book entirely, the book this video draws on the most by Saplosky is his great book called behave which i bought on release years ago 👌
Just some thoughts that the talk gave me. In terms of the "just following orders" issue, i would suggest that in taking a scientific approach, we can see the actions/behaviours (that the orders generated) as being resultant from the situation and environment in which these actions occurred - that is to say if we determine the orders to be aberrant we have to look at the environment and systems that surround it in order to affect any real change. This means that the focus shouldn't be on "punishing" an individual so much as understanding why they have done what they did, and how to reduce or prevent that in the future. Take the example given of police violence, maybe even more specific if we consider the current ongoing trial, it is clearly not the result of singular "bad apples" or "free will" but systems and culture that promote and protect the violence of police officers. Convicting a police officer of murder for killing a suspect will not prevent this behaviour in the future, but changing the culture and systems of the police can.
The thing is: we can not know scientifically, whether there is a significant degree of freedom within our lives.
I do trust there is. It helped me to overcome depression after being stuck in a (nonscientific but ubiquitous) physicalism.
Granted, the latter is better than all major and minor religions that I came across. The truth of all matter, though, is: There is an amazing sense and meaning in life which is beyond our abilities but may be grasped and touched in even moved by us.
Thank you for the great interview. Sapolsky is a brilliant man. One serious question: at 23:38, on the subject of using both medication and psychotherapy to treat depression, Sapolsky says: “what the medication does is it breaks the back of the depression. It gets you a first foothold on the beach, and what the psychotherapy now allows you to do is be able to actually have the psychic energy to start doing the hard work to figure out how you got there and how you can do things differently to change that.” My question: there is no free will in "doing the hard work"? Doesn't doing the hard work imply conscious, directed effort (and therefore employing free will to do, or not do, this)? I guess he is implicitly saying that a patient's choice to do the hard work or not is not a choice at all. But when I heard this it struck me as counter to his thesis. Anyone care to chime in on this?
Yeah, interesting comment there. Also at ~ 1:01:07, what he spoke struck me as counter to his thesis too. (´･_･`)
Meh.
Edit: Just read through username: manimal 7's comment above... Hmmm.
Enough of the comment reading here from me now :)
Not having free will doesn't mean that one can't exert conscious effort to get or change an outcome. It just means that when or if you decide to do so or not, the mechanisms involved are not within your conscious choice. A person who goes through the process to find a therapist, work well with the therapist, etc. does so based on a whole host of factors that are not determined by the person. E.g., A person may not engage optimally in therapy because of traits of a personality disorder, which may have arisen because of biological vulnerability, together with environmental triggers, which then may have led to substance use, which may have led to cognitive decline, etc. etc.
There’s still no free will. It will come down to a probabilistic decision that is weighed for outcome. E.g. maybe you have been depressed for so long and felt so bad that you finally get up and go to the doctors.
@@Tamarahope77 You are confusing the limitations that human beings have, as a matter of just being human, and determinism. The very fact that someone needs to do hard work and chooses to do hard work is simply the definition of Free Will. The ability to choose anything over something else is THE DEFINITION of Free Will. You don't get to choose everything because of physical limitations but you get to choose things within your reach.
@@d1d234 I think you'll find that when proponents of the argument against free will (such as Sapolsky, Sam Harris) talk about choices, they acknowledge that we have conscious choices but the choices emerge from background causes that we have no awareness of, nor have conscious control over. To quote Sam Harris, “The phrase free will simply describes what it feels like to identify with certain mental states as they arise in consciousness...You then become conscious of this ‘decision’ and believe that you are in the process of making it...We do not have the freedom we think we have."
Humanity is and has been at a turning point every day the sun rises.
This interview is proof that humanity has always been in trouble.
I would love to see Dr.Sapolsky and Dr. Peterson, discuss free will and philosophy. I feel not only would we benefit, but I think it would be good for his new book, it would be enriching for all of us
Peterson is a crook that has nothing to offer. his rambling about hierarchy and conservative ideas about society would be completely smashed by Robert.
@@ondrejplachy297 either way I think it would benefit all parties Involved. Not to mention the amusement of such a circumstance, where one or the others ideas are "smashed" as you say.
Using a reductive two valued logic~either yes or no, is probably not a wise way to gauge whether human life has any freedom to choose. What if in most ways we don't have free will, but in a few we potentially do and these can be accentuated through practice? By applying 3 or 4 valued logic~ yes, no, both and indeterminate we can keep our minds open to new evidence.
Psychology tells us that to be mentally healthy we need to have meaning and purpose, as well as a sense of achievement (among other needs). If these are scientifically illusory, then they remain necessary for healthy survival.
Yes, and there are alternatives to the existential crisis and deep depression, including new 'functional' core narratives and related rituals. The perspective called "religious naturalism" for example is such a solution and includes a deep reverence for life but no supernaturalism. Paradoxically, I suspect Dr. Sapolsky's upbringing led to such a hard swing of the pendulum away from theism that he landed on a cosmology totally devoid of meaning and purpose. Sentient creatures have brought meaning and purpose into the universe - they are not woven into the fabric as theism suggests.
There is ego and our Higher Self. The concept of Higher Self is important to not be forgotten in human beings context.
Most of your conscious control is the timing of cascades of synchronization from the breath down. You can regulate biological functions through the rate of breathing, neuronal firing, immune response, adrenal response etc. But you can’t change the conditions or mechanisms. So in a terribly smelling room you can’t make a huge difference with slow deep breaths. And under intense conditions it may be hard to keep awareness of your breathe instead of act instinctively. A trained military agent will take control of their breath before taking action. People do it instinctively in stressful situations. When the biology takes over in a panic attack you lose control of your breath. Problem is we never teach people how to use their breath. You can probably tell who the killer is going to be if you had access to their breathing patterns half an hour before committing the act.
I adore Robert Sapolsky’s mind and also think he’s contributed SOOOO MUCH, and continues, to human understanding, as well as all Primate behavior and neurological knowledge.
I don’t think the issue here is so much that we don’t have free will, as in there being a ghost in the machine, but rather what is the qualia of experience that makes each of us feel as if we do and gives rise to the notion and linguistic currency of free will. We with our level of intelligence and capacity for abstract thought, in the manner that we do with our cognizant ability being what it is, allows for awareness of our own deliberating, assessing, determining, and making choices, which consciously has the feeling for each of us as if we’re free agents, even when everything that goes to conscious awareness may have been determined subconsciously to begin with, as like what a computer sends to the monitor with the latter being conscious awareness. I don’t think this notion is simply a mere construction, as like from a religious teaching, but rather would have required a sentiment for such pre-existing in order for any claim of such to be accepted. Regarding morality, humans are naturally social beings, thus whatever is this “social” part of our being that makes mutually beneficial social functioning possible is at root our natural “morality.” Of course, then come the constructed embellishments that amalgamate with our natural status as social beings.
I love the fact that we glossed over - and apparently all agreed - to the complete destruction of all current so-called systems of justice
Science is abolitionist