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Monday, May 26, 2014

Scientific American- Neuroscience and Free Will

See Inside Scientific American Volume 310, Issue 6

The Neuroscience of Free Will

A collection of Scientific American articles about recent research forcing scientists to question whether people really have conscious control over their actions
Jun 1, 2014 |By The Editors

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In the June Scientific American Azim Shariff of the University of Oregon and Kathleen Vohs of the University of Minnesota explore what would happen to a society that no longer believes in free will (see "The World without Free Will"). Here are several related articles from SA's archives that focus on the biology underlying free will—or the possible lack thereof.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/finding-free-will/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/free-will-and-the-brain-michael-gazzaniga-interview/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-free-is-your-will/
This article was originally published with the title "The World without Free Will."
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walkee May 24, 2014, 12:36 PM
In Shariff and Vohs' article, the world without free will, What happens to a society that believes people have no conscious control over their actions? they end by siting Voltaire, "...if God did not exist, we would have to invent him..." That was then. I wonder if today's God actually removes free will not adds to our responsibilities. ('the devil made me do it' or the greater 'God wills it')This seems to be, at least in part, behind the sectarian conflicts and terrorism going on throughout the world, especially within those three religions where The Book 'justifies' all the bloodshed. It's like the authors describe, there are pros and cons for free will in our future society.
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jayjacobus May 25, 2014, 6:39 AM
The opposite of free will is subjugation. The opposite of determinism is indeterminism.
Also, people's senses give them the ability to act counter to the laws of physics.
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