The Illusion Of Free
A critical part of focusing on what is real is being able to identify what isn’t. For example, the concept of free is an illusion. We all have “free will”, the power to choose what we think and do. This for me is the biggest fable of all the “frees”. If I have free will why can’t I make myself get out of bed as soon as I wake up? I’ve been trying for five decades! Why can’t I focus on my breathing/mantra for more than 60 seconds when I’m meditating? Again, been at it for decades. I have a never ending list of things I’m unable to do despite my very best efforts and desires. The conclusion I came to long ago, based on my own experience and observation of others, is that free will isn’t real.
What is free will?
Free will is generally defined as the human capacity to make decisions or perform actions independently of any prior event or state of the universe. I honestly don’t get how anyone can believe this. Our mere existence is based on prior events. My creation is a result of my parents getting together-event. From birth I experienced all sorts of nurturing events to teach me how to be, do, think, ultimately survive in this world. How can I not be influenced by this? I can’t! I can still hear my mother’s voice in my head when it comes to making decisions even though she has long passed.
I’ve had many discussions and disagreements over the years about free will. It is one thing to know this experientially, it is another to know it scientifically so I read with great attentiveness what the scientist Robert Sapolsky had to say in his book Determined: Life Without Free Will on this topic. His premise is this: “we are nothing more or less than the cumulative biological and environmental luck, over which we had no control, that has brought us to any moment.” (Sapolsky, Robert M. Determined: Life Without Free Will (p. 4)). He reached this conclusion based on his decades long work spanning different fields: from biology, and neurosciences to sociology and psychiatry and even the criminal justice system. He stressed that his broad scientific experience is an important point because “put all the scientific results together, from all the relevant scientific disciplines, and there’s no room for free will.” (Sapolsky, Robert M. Determined: Life Without Free Will (p. 8)). To show if we have the ability to “free will” or not, Professor Sapolsky examines influences on our state and behaviour at different times prior to making decisions.
Seconds to minutes before
There are a series of neuroscience studies dubbed Libet-style (named after the creator of the original test, Benjamin Libet) conducted to understand our decision making process. In these studies individuals are asked to perform tasks such as picking to press one coloured button over another or taking a left or right turn while driving or when to jump during a bungee-jumping activity. The individuals were then asked to state when they made their choices. Devices such as EEG and fMRI are used to monitor brain activity to compare when they actually decided and when they thought and said they did. The results constantly showed that there is a delay: “thus,…monitoring the activity of hundreds of millions of neurons down to single neurons, all show that at the moment when we believe that we are consciously and freely choosing to do something, the neurobiological die has already been cast. That sense of conscious intent is an irrelevant afterthought.” (Sapolsky, Robert M. Determined: Life Without Free Will (p. 24)). In one study decision making happened up to ten seconds before subjects felt they were consciously deciding. This is because the pre-frontal cortex, where executive decisions are made, passes the decision on to the rest of the frontal cortex, which passes it to the premotor cortex, then to the supplementary motor area and, a few steps later, on to your muscles. Moreover, what decision we make within seconds to minutes can be influenced by sensory and aesthetic stimulants. In one highly cited study, subjects rated their opinions about various sociopolitical topics. And if subjects were sitting in a room with a disgusting smell (versus a neutral one), the average level of warmth both conservatives and liberals reported for gay men decreased. The effect was specific to gay men, with no change in warmth toward lesbians, the elderly, or African Americans (Sapolsky, Robert M. Determined: Life Without Free Will (p. 47)).
Minutes to hours before
Three different types of hormones can alter what choices you make minutes to hours before. Your level of testosterone can determine if you make impulsive and aggressive decisions. Moreover, testosterone tilts you toward more risk-taking and impulsivity by strengthening the ability of the amygdala to directly activate behavior, and weakening the ability of the frontal cortex to rein it in. Oxytocin and its related hormone vasopressin have effects that are the polar opposite of testosterone. They decrease excitability in the amygdala. Boost your oxytocin levels experimentally, and you’re more likely to be charitable and trusting in a competitive game. The level of Oxytocin we are born with determines our ability to have stable relationships, sensitivity to threats and charitableness. (Sapolsky, Robert M. Determined: Life Without Free Will (p. 53-4)). Glucocorticoids, the third class of hormones, determine how you react to stress. Your gene variant determines their level, as well as the number and function of Glucocorticoid receptors in your brain. The development of this hormone and its receptors is dependent on the amount of inflammation you experienced as a fetus, your parents’ socioeconomic status, and your mother’s parenting style (Sapolsky, Robert M. Determined: Life Without Free Will (p. 56)).
Years and beyond
Moving forward to our longer-term ability to make sound judgement—emotional regulation, defer instant gratification, impulse control and long-term planning–the part of the brain responsible for this is the frontal cortex. This is the last part of the brain to develop. Further, it is the brain region least shaped by genes and most shaped by environment. Thus your adolescent experience of trauma, love, rejection etc. will play an outsized role in constructing the frontal cortex, as do your parental socioeconomic status (SES) in early childhood. For example, low familial SES predicts stunted maturation of the frontal cortex in kindergarteners. (Sapolsky, Robert M. Determined: Life Without Free Will (p. 64)). The impact of adverse childhood experience (ACE) is so important that it has been formalised into a score. The experiences measured are: abuse, (physical, emotional and sexual), neglect (physical and emotional), and household dysfunction (mental illness, mother being treated violently, divorce, incarcerated relative, substance abuse). Epigenesists have found that, “for every step higher in one’s ACE score, there is roughly a 35 percent increase in the likelihood of adult antisocial behavior, including violence; poor frontocortical-dependent cognition; problems with impulse control; substance abuse; teen pregnancy and unsafe sex and other risky behaviors; and increased vulnerability to depression and anxiety disorders. Oh, and also poorer health and earlier death.” (Sapolsky, Robert M. Determined: Life Without Free Will (p. 67)).
In addition to the above Prof. Sapolsky also examined the impact of genes, evolution and culture on our ability to practice free will. He concluded: “In order to prove there’s free will, you have to show that some behavior just happened out of thin air in the sense of considering all these biological precursors. It may be possible to sidestep that with some subtle philosophical arguments, but you can’t with anything known to science.” (Sapolsky, Robert M. Determined: Life Without Free Will (p.83)). A question that I had while reading this is, how do we change if there is no free will? He answered: “we don’t change our minds. Our minds, which are the end products of all the biological moments that came before, are changed by circumstances around us (Sapolsky, Robert M. Determined: Life Without Free Will (p.269)). He gave two examples to illustrate this. The first is studies carried out on Aplysia, a giant sea slug that shows how touching its gill affects its nervous system and consequently its behaviour. The second example is how our knowledge of and attitude towards epilepsy and schizophrenia have evolved over centuries due to changes in circumstances. If you are interested in the details see chapters 12 and 13 of the book. Nevertheless, I find his answer encouraging because our circumstances are not permanent, they can change. Hence, why we no longer treat epileptics as witches to be burnt alive or schizophrenics possessing shamanic powers. It is also why a child removed from an abusive home and placed in a loving environment can grow up physically and mentally healthy.
I will end by saying that though I know that there is no free will I still act at times like there is. Why? Because it gives me hope that I and my fellow humans can will ourselves to be and do better. Boy do I need hope right now!