What is free will?
Courtesy of kin, our brain is front-loaded with a billion terabytes of information. Then, as babies we're the subject of uncountable experiences that effect future brain states: All this before we have a single conscious thought.
As adults we're constantly exposed to inputs over which we have no direct control but are formative of our worldview.
Where is the truly independent thought, then? Every time I think I'm making a Choice it seems like I could, in theory, reverse engineer my stream of consciousness back to one or more contingent neurological events that just 'happened' to me.
The free will myth is the source of retributive justice. It's an essential part of the Just World fallacy. It's harmful.
Quite. I found this article really helpful in unravelling some of the neuro stuff and legal stuff: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/07/the-brain-on-trial/8520/
ReplyDeleteAwesome, Thali - thanks.
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