Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will

Introduction

"The only way humans have survived amid being able to understand the truths about life is by having evolved a robust capacity for self-deception."

This might be true. In Determined, Robert Sapolsky argues for determinism and that our capacity for self-deception definitely includes our belief in Free Will.

About Robert Sapolsky

Robert Sapolsky is an American neuroendocrinology researcher and professor of biology, neurology, neurological sciences, and neurosurgery at Stanford University. In Determined, he tackles the timeless question of Free Will and concludes that it doesn't exist — a natural conclusion if you've read his previous book, Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst.

The Illusion of Free Will

Determined gives us a crash course in biology, shares fascinating and often haunting experiments that confirm the deterministic findings, and takes apart the most plausible arguments for free will.

"Because the world is deterministic, there can't be Free Will. And thus, holding people responsible for their actions is not okay."

The Influence of Upbringing and Luck

If the idea of not having free will makes you uncomfortable, you're probably one of the lucky ones. You probably have a job, were brought up in a good neighborhood where you had things to say yes to so you could say no to drugs. You're probably healthy, and your mother probably didn't work two different jobs while pregnant with you.

The ACE Test

The Adverse Childhood Experience Index measures how lucky your childhood was. For every point on this test, you have around a 30% increase in adult antisocial behaviors — including violence, poor prefrontal cortex development, impulse control problems, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and increased vulnerability to anxiety and depression. Most strikingly, your life expectancy goes down quite drastically.

Sapolsky's conclusion: "No, luck doesn't even out. If you are born poor, you are likely to stay there."

Will We Run Amok Without Free Will?

Experiments show that people prompted with ideas of free will not existing show less effort, are less helpful, cheat more, showcase more antisocial behavior, exhibit less gratitude, find less meaning in life, and feel less sense of agency. With these results in hand, Sapolsky asks us to burn this book after reading it so we don't corrupt future readers' morals.

Society's Evolution

"We have done it before, over and over in various domains. We have shown that we can subtract out our belief that actions are freely willfully chosen as we become more knowledgeable, more reflective, and more modern. And the roof hasn't caved in."

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