Reason Round Table: A weekly discussion group for thoughtful, curious people
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Important meeting note: Look for us at the round table in the front left part of the restaurant
Determinism vs Free Will: Are our choices actually choices in the way in which we experience them as volitional? If brain imaging can predict our choices seconds before we are aware of them, does this provide definitive evidence that free will is an illusion, or do these studies merely show how the brain processes decisions? While some researchers argue that unconscious neural activity proves the absence of conscious control, others point to our robust capacity for deliberate self-regulation and "vetoing" impulses as evidence that agency exists. Given this conflicting data, does modern science settle the debate, or does it simply shift the boundary of what it means to choose freely?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hkvhe1FlC8
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/09/free-will-bereitschaftspotential/597736/