A hot topic for several thousand years, the question of whether free will exists may never be settled to everyone’s satisfaction. But in a series of new articles for the Chronicles of Higher Education, six academics from diverse fields offer fresh perspectives from the standpoints of modern neuroscience and philosophy. Ultimately, they voted 4-2 in […]
I love getting questions or challenges from readers and I will respond to as many of them as I can here. Last night I was talking to a reader who happens to be my mother. Her feeling was that we don’t yet know everything there is to know about how the brain works and […]
You can now get a print version of The Three Illusions via Lulu. Worldwide shipping.
Phil Plaitt has written a fascinating article on the latest thinking about dark matter. Dark matter, to re-interpret Obi Wan Kenobi, surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together. At least that’s what a new scientific study seems to show. Dark matter appears to stretch well beyond the visible limits of galaxies, flowing […]
Great video!
USA Today has this excellent article by Jerry Coyne, Professor of Evolution at the University of Chicago. Prof. Coyne’s explanation mirrors my own, however he is much more elegant. His conclusion: There’s not much downside to abandoning the notion of free will. It’s impossible, anyway, to act as though we don’t have it: you’ll pretend […]
Compare the picture of a brain cell on the left with the computer model of the current universe on the right. What does it tell us? Nothing really, except that the same patterns can be found across the universe. It’s a nice picture though. 🙂 H/T to Bill Schloendorn.
Just in case you didn’t believe me, neuroscientist and author Sam Harris has written an excellent piece on free will in the Christmas edition of New Statesmen magazine (which has been edited by Richard Dawkins). Here’s a screenshot of my iPad copy. It’s worth purchasing the app so you can read the whole thing, it’s […]
Thanks to everyone who purchased the book on launch day and especially to those of you who Tweeted or Facebooked it. There’s been some lovely feedback. If you get a chance, please drop a quick review on the Amazon page. It looks a bit barren up there at the moment. I’m thinking about doing an […]
Here’s a great list of quotes about free will via Bill Schloendorn. While they are all great, this one is my favourite: Charles Darwin: “…one doubts existence of free will [because] every action determined by heredity, constitution, example of others or teaching of others.” “This view should teach one profound humility, one deserves no credit […]