I’m about to read “Determined: A science of life without free will” that basically tackles the idea that every single act and motivation is pre-ordained for us, based on every ancestral element we have. As a person who has built a career in tech because making it in this capitalist system seemed imperative, it feels like a premise with a lot of weight. I’ll report back.
The Brooks scene of advocating for empathy simultaneously seems so important. How do we build a system that’s mandated and not built on listening. The theoretical here is building a society for only the people I understand and listen to now, vs building one inclusive of all the others outside the bubble. But is that utopia? Will definitely check out the podcast.
Lastly, why does Iris look like my Abuelita Vicki!!!!!!!!!!!
You inspired me to download the Kindle sample of Determined last night. I’ve heard Sapolsky claim on a few podcasts that there’s no such thing as free will (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/how-to-change-your-mind-update/), but he never explained himself … he just said that he had this realization when he was 14 and that he was sure that he was right.
I agree with his basic claim that we think we have more control over our decisions than we really do … and that nearly everything we do/say is the product of our personality, genes, upbringing, relationships, and culture. And I appreciate his argument that once you come to terms with how determined our behaviors are, it should make us more empathetic to others. Truly, we can’t help ourselves. (A realization that has made me much more empathic toward my mom.)
But it’s obviously wrong (and dumb) to say that I have no control whatsoever over whether I publish this comment or not. That the decision as to whether I press “post” has already been decided by my DNA and upbringing, and there’s nothing I can do to resist it.
Ironically, it’s probably a certain personality type and upbringing that would convince someone that he has no control over his behaviors … and it would take a lot of therapy to understand where it comes from. 😝
Doubly ironic, he mentions in the first chapter how he didn’t really want to write the book. For the rest of us, I guess we could have simply not written the book. But for Sapolsky, I guess it was pre-determined.
I’m about to read “Determined: A science of life without free will” that basically tackles the idea that every single act and motivation is pre-ordained for us, based on every ancestral element we have. As a person who has built a career in tech because making it in this capitalist system seemed imperative, it feels like a premise with a lot of weight. I’ll report back.
The Brooks scene of advocating for empathy simultaneously seems so important. How do we build a system that’s mandated and not built on listening. The theoretical here is building a society for only the people I understand and listen to now, vs building one inclusive of all the others outside the bubble. But is that utopia? Will definitely check out the podcast.
Lastly, why does Iris look like my Abuelita Vicki!!!!!!!!!!!
You inspired me to download the Kindle sample of Determined last night. I’ve heard Sapolsky claim on a few podcasts that there’s no such thing as free will (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/how-to-change-your-mind-update/), but he never explained himself … he just said that he had this realization when he was 14 and that he was sure that he was right.
I agree with his basic claim that we think we have more control over our decisions than we really do … and that nearly everything we do/say is the product of our personality, genes, upbringing, relationships, and culture. And I appreciate his argument that once you come to terms with how determined our behaviors are, it should make us more empathetic to others. Truly, we can’t help ourselves. (A realization that has made me much more empathic toward my mom.)
But it’s obviously wrong (and dumb) to say that I have no control whatsoever over whether I publish this comment or not. That the decision as to whether I press “post” has already been decided by my DNA and upbringing, and there’s nothing I can do to resist it.
Whether to publish a comment is small stakes. But I’m a firm believer in another kind of therapeutic free will: that we can, in fact, overcome some of the behaviors and assumptions ingrained by how we were raised. I think we can even change our personality if we want to: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/03/how-to-change-your-personality-happiness/621306/
Ironically, it’s probably a certain personality type and upbringing that would convince someone that he has no control over his behaviors … and it would take a lot of therapy to understand where it comes from. 😝
Doubly ironic, he mentions in the first chapter how he didn’t really want to write the book. For the rest of us, I guess we could have simply not written the book. But for Sapolsky, I guess it was pre-determined.