Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will Hardcover – October 17, 2023

A lifetime of success, especially when hard-won through grit and sacrifice, is rewarded with personal pride and the cheers of our meritocracy. A squandered life is riddled with shame, rejection, and punishment. This is justice, and perhaps it is also karma.Or is it?Knowing well our differences, how can we also claim to be equally prepared for our world's hard choices? Our own preparedness varies daily with moods and circumstances; the impact of our environment is undeniable. What about the events of last week? Or childhood, or our genes? The society we were born into? Do these influence our behavior? How can we call ourselves free agents, when we are products of molding processes we cannot control? And if we are not free, how can we be responsible? Will the world fall apart if we're not?In this book, neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky conducts a thorough scientific, philosophical, and social investigation of "free will". He walks us through every step of decision-making at a neuronal and molecular level - complete with a deep dive into the physics of quantum indeterminacy, chaos, and emergent complexity - and his conclusion is that we choose as freely as tornadoes (not fully predictable, but fully determined). "While it sure may seem at times that we are free [to] do as we intend, we are never free to intend what we intend." I imagine the nineteenth century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer nodding his head in agreement.But if we are not free, we are not responsible. If we believe this, won't our world collapse into mayhem? As Sapolsky puts it: "Will we run amok?" And the answer his research points to, though not absolutely convincing, seems to be "no".And this is where the treasure of the book lies, because in a world without free will, rational thought compels us toward a particular worldview — one that mirrors the ideals of spiritual thinkers throughout history: "to view humans without judgment or the belief that anyone deserves anything special, to live without a capacity for hatred or entitlement."What about justice? In a judgment-free world, retribution and punishment are buried. Quarantine and empathetic constraints grow to replace them. No more convincing people who are suffering to also hate themselves. Merit becomes a success of the society, not the individual, and likewise with its opposite. Empathy and humility replace egoism and indifference.It turns out that when we stop chasing the mirage of freedom, we find meaning all around us.My only major complaint about this book is there are no turtles on the cover, but don't let that stop you. Read it, look down, and thank your turtles for getting you here.

One of the most radical, thought-provoking, moving, poignant, and viscerally haunting books about the human condition I've ever read.I don't know if Sapolsky is correct that humans have no free will whatsoever--it's his philosophical interpretation of scientific facts and he admits philosophy is not his strong suit--but he makes a damn strong and formidable case not only for no free will but for the abolition of the criminal justice system, discarding the very notions of blame and praise, etc. and what might replace that.I think this book will make anyone a more compassionate and less judgemental person just having had to wrestle with Sapolsky's arguments and all the scientific facts gathered (and he says most of the studies he cites are from the past 5 years, and he cites a lot).For some, it will probably induce an existential crisis and challenge core beliefs that many people take for granted. Sapolsky himself approaches this with humor trying not to be too depressing and heavy, but also seriousness, he admits where he thinks he could be wrong and he struggles to wrestle with all he's learned and come to believe about the nature of the universe and our place in it in his many years as a scientist and professor (and before), and the book gets very emotional near the end with Sapolsky talking about his family members killed in the Holocaust, struggling with his own feelings of hate, experiences working with defense attorneys and their clients, etc.The book is chock-full of science but at its core it's a professor, seeing himself as nothing more or less than another cog in a vast machine, but with a heart that cries out for humans to be more understanding of one another and society to be more just, even if that seems impossible. He himself is aware of the paradox in that and ponders it. And he's both cynical and very hopeful and optimistic. We used to burn witches, now we don't. We used to think people with schizophrenia and epilepsy were possessed by demons, now we don't. Each time subtracting responsibility and focusing on addressing root causes of behavior made society kinder. It's very political, and I suspect for a long time it's going to be hard to think about politics again without thinking about this book.That all said, my only major critique is that I feel like looking at the objective facts of "all we are and do is heavily influenced by all that came before and we are built of components that work like machines" and concluding "there's no room for humans to have any control or agency whatsoever" is a philosophical jump that's unwarranted. Sapolsky makes a good and sincere case for why he thinks it is warranted, but I think he's not taking seriously enough what the role of consciousness might be. It seems to me if we have any agency or control consciousness would absolutely be key to that. Ironically, I feel like reading this book gave me more agency, in that knowing all the science and arguments within about constraints on human behavior enables me to make better choices (not to judge someone, to be more patient with them, to be more understanding, for example).I'm "agnostic" on this topic (and about to read Kevin Mitchell's book arguing the opposite), but it seems to me that humans may still have some small level of control. Like, maybe "free will" is more akin to us being on a raft hastily made by people who had no idea it was supposed to last a lifetime... And we may only have one arm, but we also have a little paddle to change our trajectory ever so slightly and pew pew gun to shoot any monsters that may pop out and menace us along the way. Food for thought!But this book is a clear 5-stars. Any disagreement shouldn't take away from that. Worth reading and owning.