There! they said, that proves that there is no free will:
To many observers, these findings debunked the intuitive concept of free will. After all, if neuroscientists can infer the timing or choice of your movements long before you are consciously aware of your decision, perhaps people are merely puppets, pushed around by neural processes unfolding below the threshold of consciousness.The trouble is, the movements that researchers have studied in these classic experiments did not matter personally to the experimental subjects:
"Free will is only an illusion if you are, too" — Alessandra Buccella, Tomáš Dominik, Scientific American (January 16, 2023)
Most empirical studies of free will — including Libet's — have focused on these kinds of arbitrary actions. In such actions, researchers can indeed "read out" our brain activity and trace information about our movements and choices before we even realize we are about to make them. But if these actions don't matter to us, is it all that notable that they are initiated unconsciously? More significant decisions — such as whether to take a job, get married or move to a different country — are infinitely more interesting and complex and are quite consciously made.An Important Subset
"Free will is only an illusion if you are, too" — Alessandra Buccella, Tomáš Dominik, Scientific American (January 16, 2023)
Decisions that matter are a small but important subset of the ones we make every day. But they are also precisely the ones where we consider free will to be important. In 2019, a research team studying brain patterns found a way to test a distinction between important and unimportant outcomes:
They presented participants with a choice of two nonprofit organizations to which they could donate $1,000. People could indicate their preferred organization by pressing the left or right button. In some cases, participants knew that their choice mattered because the button would determine which organization would receive the full $1,000. In other cases, people knowingly made meaningless choices because they were told that both organizations would receive $500 regardless of their selection.And then the researchers discovered a surprising thing: "Meaningless choices were preceded by a readiness potential, just as in previous experiments. Meaningful choices were not, however. When we care about a decision and its outcome, our brain appears to behave differently than when a decision is arbitrary."
"Free will is only an illusion if you are, too" — Alessandra Buccella, Tomáš Dominik, Scientific American (January 16, 2023)
The paper is open access
Changing the Subject
Buccella and Dominik downplay the significance of that finding by immediately changing the subject: A 2022 open-access study involving 600 participants showed that most participants did not think that our brains handle important decisions like a career change differently from unimportant ones like which socks to wear. That's useful to know but not nearly as thought-provoking as the 2019 finding.
To go back to that 2019 study for a moment, if our brains do handle important decisions differently, who or what is making the decision that the findings are important to us? If there is no readiness potential for our important decisions, why don't they need it? How are they being made? Is another, undetected system cutting in when the decisions are important?
Perhaps sensing that they are sailing into dangerous waters, Buccella and Dominik immediately reassure readers of Scientific American that they are not proposing any non-materialist interpretation:
"We" are our brain. The combined research makes clear that human beings do have the power to make conscious choices. But that agency and accompanying sense of personal responsibility are not supernatural. They happen in the brain, regardless of whether scientists observe them as clearly as they do a readiness potential.
So there is no "ghost" inside the cerebral machine. But as researchers, we argue that this machinery is so complex, inscrutable and mysterious that popular concepts of "free will" or the "self" remain incredibly useful.
"Free will is only an illusion if you are, too" — Alessandra Buccella, Tomáš Dominik, Scientific American (January 16, 2023)
A Non-Material Factor
Actually, the 2019 research they cited points in the direction of a non-material factor in decision-making. That factor may be the reason we can make free conscious choices. But it can only be dealt with at present in obfuscated ways.
Abstract: The readiness potential (RP) — a key ERP correlate of upcoming action — is known to precede subjects' reports of their decision to move. Some view this as evidence against a causal role for consciousness in human decision-making and thus against free-will. But previous work focused on arbitrary decisions — purposeless, unreasoned, and without consequences. It remains unknown to what degree the RP generalizes to deliberate, more ecological decisions. We directly compared deliberate and arbitrary decision-making during a $1000-donation task to non-profit organizations. While we found the expected RPs for arbitrary decisions, they were strikingly absent for deliberate ones. Our results and drift-diffusion model are congruent with the RP representing accumulation of noisy, random fluctuations that drive arbitrary — but not deliberate — decisions. They further point to different neural mechanisms underlying deliberate and arbitrary decisions, challenging the generalizability of studies that argue for no causal role for consciousness in decision-making to real-life decisions.
"Neural Precursors of decisions that matter — An ERP study of deliberate and arbitrary choice" — Uri Maoz, Gideon Yaffe, Christof Koch, Liad Mudrik (2019) ELIFE 8:E39787
You may also wish to read: Does science disprove free will? A physicist says no. Marcelo Gleiser notes that the mind is not a solar system with strict deterministic laws. Apart from simple laws governing neurons, we have no clue what laws the mind follows, though it does show complex nonlinear dynamics. (Michael Egnor)
Reader Comments
Sam Harris will end up making himself irrelevant in a fait accompli.
But as a practical anarchist, I would add, "...but be prepared to accept the consequences."
1. To acknowledge that there is even a possibility of free and to try and study it, is confirmation that there is free wiil
2. Denying free will is denying God, and a free will choice
3. The Wing nuts who control everything, want to control our free will, their fear is our confirmation that it is real.
4. Someone got paid to study the obvious.
5. We do not live in Schrodinger's paradox.
Yes... to obey and please.
Natural law is negative law, it tells an individual what they must not do . Specifically, not aggress against the body or property of another individual, i.e., violate the rights of another to be left alone.
Breaking rules entails consequences. But bear in mind that a right is a right to action, which entails the responsibility of that action and the consequences thereof.
I'm not arguing with you, I'm just hoping to clarify my statement.
While I understand the concept & context of that ultimate freedom “DATW” fosters, it promulgates, a contagious pneuma of demonic acts holding no one responsible/accountable/culpable for their actions. I have seen way, way, way, far, far, far too much evil that should not have happened. It wasn’t necessary & felt instinctively/intuitively is was not a natural behavior. This includes war crimes as witnessed in combat theaters including torture (e.g. Astan/Iraq/Egypt et al) It only INCUBATED more hate/evil/destruction/abhorrent/anomalous/deviant behavior from other weak minded amoral types. Almost a contagion of pneuma competition of these individuals to be the baddest most evil manifested demon they could be. They were out of control period, not in normal state of mind & displayed no respect to human life, dignity to their Souls/Spirits.
We can see some people can’t function under their own level of consciousness in society. We also know that under an altered inner state that Alcohol/Drugs/SSRI-SSNRI/Xanax/Ambien/Prozac/Fentenayl etc, people also cannot function with normal functioning cognitive levels of consciousness. Does anyone here seriously think that a person under the influence of Xanax et alia or similar altering inner state drug is actually normal ? I know several people in my past who b/c of drugs they could not function without taking the drugs. After taking the drugs they were impaired & jeopardized my own safety in case shtf. In other words they felt they were not in control of themselves, needed to take a mind altering drug to help them cope with contemporaneous elements of society. As a resultant of taking that inner state prescribed drug they weren’t in a normal state either. They were obviously cognitively impaired under that drugs influence. Similar to what DSM categorizes as a functioning Alcholholic/Drug addict. BTW, I’m not a beLIEver or subscriber in the common idiom that Weed is a Gateway Drug. I think taking drugs is a choice made by the individual. The individual should do their own due diligence on the ramifications/consequences of making a decision to take that drug. Professionals charged with administering the drug at all levels have a responsibility to inform the patient for treatment of EVERY potential con as well as the pro’s. This country has tacitly normalized drug administration & addiction problems as a crutch for people to cope with society imo.
Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew was an example of how this phenomenon & predictive programming transference occurred. POTUS Biden leads the way eh. Instead of a good leader setting by example we have a deeply flawed leader by example. Point is America could do a lot better vs. accepting as normal a degenerate of moral turpitude.
Here’s a typical example found right at the top of a google search under Fentenayl Addiction:
“PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT : The US is in the midst of an opioid overdose epidemic. If you or someone you know needs help, effective treatment is available and can save lives.” [Link]
Am I to disregard this as shoveled & catapulted propaganda or truth ? I’ll go with truth b/c of what I observe.
Xanax addiction numbers : [Link]
I provided this only as an illustrative sampling of just a single example, there are plenty more: Xanax for other’s reading who may not be aware:
“Benzodiazepines are central nervous system depressants that slow brain functioning. Xanax specifically works by increasing the activity of a brain chemical known as gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). GABA is a neurotransmitter that dampens neural excitation and suppresses communication between the different neurons in the body. When this occurs a user can experience some or all of the following: Decreased tension and anxiety. Sleepiness. Loss of coordination. Impaired judgment.
Do I want to be driving in public minding my own business going about my day & have to deal with a portion of the public under the influence of inner state mind altering drugs ? What assurances do I or can you provide me with that reliably assure me that they are under complete control of themselves or their actions ? Evil metastasizes/manifests b/c people allow it to manifest rather than stand up to it & shun it. It is part of Aristotle’s Tree of knowledge [Link] where lower levels of thoughts exist.
He shows the lower plane of Irrationality/Desire/Sensation/Intellect vs. higher planes of thinking I.e. knowledge/wisdom/phronesis
Someone has to be the ombudsman/ferryman/boatman/psychopomp/adjudicator/reconciliator/karma enforcer in charge of those who do not/cannot control their inner Cain/Serpent/Dragon. Kabbalah Tree of Knowledge designates this as “Daath/Daat” the Void/ Abyss
Is that a safe condition to be in taking my children around town to Soccer/Baseball/Football/Basketball/Gymnastics practice or games ? Knowing some doped up individual is not in the least concerned about or for other’s safety or following traffic laws/rules/ordinances in an altered state of consciousness ?
When some one else’s “WILL” encroaches/violates/abuses/aggresses/behaviors of indifference or reckless disregard/demonstrates violence towards my “WILL’ or my families/loved ones etc. what’s the remedy ? Turn the other cheek doesn’t work (b/c it’s shows compliance/submission to the act/anctions itself) or solve the problem which is a part of how we got here. It promulgates or reinforces/encourages the person‘s behavior b/c nothing disparaging or punitive happened to them. That allows them to continue the behavior b/c of no consequences. No different than pedos/snuff films/infidelity/incest/bestiality/Adrenochrome/child trafficking/Cartels etc.
Something (Common Law) has to be the glue or thread within the warp & weft of the fabric that holds/limits/constrains/boundary/threshold the Oder of Society together. Not lawlessness of the Jungle.
A co-existing vibrant/functioning/thriving/peaceful/joyful/rewarding/loving/caring/compassionate/empathic etc. society needs to be reasonably habitable. We see modern movies (which are Dream Factories (as Jesuit Theodore Adorno of Beatles fame cryptically said) such as Mad Max/Reservoir Dog/Pulp Fiction/Postman/Book of Eli/Fight Club/FRINGE/REVOLUTION/COLONY which almost always show a Hero/Heroine archetype, love interests, children, struggle, moral dilemmas etc. It’s always the same formula for those that can see it. You’ll never see the Rock die in one of his films b/c no more money for that franchise character he plays. Celluloid hero’s/heroine’s can’t die b/c too much 💰 involved.
John Locke’s Common Law - Thomas Hobb’s Law I’m very familiar with them, their origins & social contract they create etc.
I personally knew & witnessed people who broke the law (big things, not J walking) got off with no consequences. Because I was exposed to this at a different plane/level than general public, I could see the inner workings of the system. So that was all the proof I needed that in fact there were no consequences. (e.g. OJ Simpson & the travesty of misjustice that occurred, review the facts & DNA evidence if not sure) Regarding Karmic justice that’s a theory & belief system. Regarding ancient beliefs they also some also held beLIEf that people were reincarnated as Vegetable/Plant/Animal. People are free to beLIEve that if they choose to. It’s my intention or purpose to judge them but I can control my actions & thoughts to shed some light on the darkness of the topic.
Believe can be manipulated, knowledge cannot.
Some people rationalize to themselves since they figured this much out, I might as well enjoy my time here as Faust/Mephistopheles. Those are the types I’m referring to. They exist for real & we are seeing it manifest daily. Do people really buy that Zionazilensky cares about children or future of Ukraine ? I seriously doubt that by his actions & words. Those are the corruptible types. We see it manifest every day in what we read/observe/witness.
It’s easier to build strong children that fix broken men.
Just some random thought from the Heart & Soul
Yo! Time to make pizza then go for a hike along the creek with the doggies; already on the mushrooms, no worries, the kind kind
Something of interest
4H27Min
PyRAmids GEOmetry JeRUsalem
And 3H4Min
Invisible Healing aka Silent Communication
[Link]
From a business perspective, not seeing down the road is dangerous. From a business perspective it better suits our
shareholdersstakeholders interests to remove the reason we can't see the future.Without knowing ourselves and the direction, we are subject to many "nudges" that can affect our choices. Think of your direction as dieting. Then a donut, or a football game with beer, or a thought like "I'll go back to my diet tomorrow", or a friend inviting you out can and do lead one from the direction chosen. Will is the maintaining of the direction.
Then think of children in today's environment: sexual identity, "white privilege", CRT, video games, Tik-tok, instagram. Do they have a direction? Do they have the critical thinking skills to make choices? Do they have the experience to see how their "choices" determine the result in their life? Do they understand values?
To do here n now what we signed up back then n back there (before incarnation happened).
All it is is ReMemberIng, BeIng (act speak think feel) and ExpireMent keeping one's word (verb) of THAT YES from back then all day long.
A.K.A. congruancy, living united to one's self.
On another thread just a couple of days back we celebrated ... those clean n ordinary living days of back then. We were THE priviledged without a doubt. 😪