Wrong Question

Do we have free will or are we merely complex stimulus response devices. Can we know? Does it matter?

I believe that I have some control over the outcome of my life. I make choices and those choices have consequences. My choices are strongly influenced by my heredity, the conditions under which my brain developed, and the accumulated experiences of my life. Nonetheless, I believe that I exercise some measure of free will in my conscious decision making.

Sam Harris asserts that this is an illusion. His argument rests on the assumption of a material universe wholly governed by natural laws dictating the interactions of the matter in that universe. That assumption is unaltered by the existence of energy as an alternative form of matter or by the possibility of multiverses. He tells us that we live in a clock-work universe where future states arise from present states. The randomness of quantum mechanics may create some uncertainty about those future states, but it does not provide freedom of choice to the collection of atoms of which we consist. It is an interesting argument, but it is irrelevant.

Free will is not a thing; it is a construct. We generally think of free will as the ability to act without certain constraints. By treating free will as the ability to act without any constraints, Harris easily defines it away.

The problem with using science to make a philosophical argument is that there is much that science cannot yet tell us. Indeed, there may be much that science will never be able to tell us. What makes science useful is that it identifies the “laws” that predict the behavior of matter and energy. Those predictions help us to harness matter an energy to do useful things. We need to remember that those laws are not in and of themselves an objective reality; they are simply models that help us navigate the universe in which we live. In the same sense, free will is a behavioral model that helps us understand the extent to which we can reasonably hold another creature.

The important question is not whether or not we have free will, but rather how free our will really is. Read in that light, Harris makes some very important points. We sometimes forget how much of our lives are determined by factors out of our control. By extension, we forget how much of other people’s lives are determined by factors out of their control. Both nature and nurture conspire to mold us into what we are. Perhaps we could take a little less credit for how well things have turned out for us and assign a little less blame to those who have not managed as well.

Perhaps the inflammatory argument that our cherished free will is an illusion should be read an argument for compassion.

34 people found this helpful

LIFE/ WORLD Altering sophisticated thinking!

Where does Free Will rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the top 3 audiobooks I have listened to so far (and I have LOTS of audiobooks). I will listent to it many times----and hopefully some guests in my car will also have the privilege to be titillated by his thoughts.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

Sam Harris is amazing! I love the subjects he choses to grapple with. I love the conclusions he draws. I love the potential impact on the way the world perceives punishment/guilt/free will. I love the fact that Sam is a neuroscientist --- clearly his opinions are based on lots of scientific knowledge--not just a philosophy.

What does Sam Harris bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I am a big fan of audiobooks. I have ADHD and the audiobook enables me to "read" books I would not otherwise be able to sit still and really comprehend fully. I have become accustomed to listening to audiobooks in my car and when the author reads the book to me--it is magical---of course he wrote it--so only he can put the passion in his words---it makes a HUGE difference---I do have other audiobooks read by someone else other then the author---it's such a privilege to hear him speak his ideas---not to mention he has a very calm clear voice.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I DID have an extreme reaction to this book. It did make me cry----because the information he is giving to us in this book --if understood by the masses has the power to completely change the world---my tears were tears of joy---

And his idea is not just some romantic idea about the way our brain works--it's based on facts--scientific facts---

I don't care about the book with regards to how it "handles" the idea of free-will in religion, but I will admit that I am an atheist and have been interested in Sam's writings from the first book because of that, but I will say that the fact that we do not have free will sets the stage for a complete shift in the way we preceive the world---a HUGE SHIFT---

Maybe like one of those plateaus in evolution that really jumps a species to the next level---is it possible to jump to another level in evolution just by having a thought? I think maybe so!

28 people found this helpful

Fascinating debate!

What made the experience of listening to Free Will the most enjoyable?

Sam Harris presents both sides well and then argues his thesis. Refreshingly frank. Felt like I was eavesdropping on a lively debate.

18 people found this helpful

Nothing you couldn't get from Sam's blog

Any additional comments?

I loved Sam Harris' "The Moral Landscape," and I read his blog and have enjoyed his posts on free will. The book didn't add anything to this very basic synopsis: Free will is an illusion, based on neuroscience, and we can do what we decide but we can't decide what we do. In short, regarding the idea that if you could go back in time, then you could choose differently — no you couldn't. Therefore any hate toward someone for, say, raping you is misplaced. They couldn't have done differently. If anything, you should feel compassion because how would you like to live inside the skin of someone who is a rapist and can't not be a rapist? (Sam is saying this, not me.) The book was fine, and Sam is always engaging but it lacked something special, to set it apart from a compilation of blog posts. I guess I would've wanted more real-world anecdotes and how a society could or should handle the consequences of these antisocial actions differently than it does now. The book didn't help me see how the lack of free will is meaningful in practice for my life or society as a whole. That said, the book is worthwhile if only because there's so little available on audio about this interesting subject. It's a solid brief introduction to determinism.

16 people found this helpful

Harris is not a good philosopher.

For anyone who has merely dug past the surface of layman philosophy, this book is a huge contradiction of terms, ideas and definitions. Harris needs to freshen up on his knowledge (pun intended) of epistemology.

Your thoughts are all part of the naturalistic system of cause and effect, yet they somehow just materialize? Sorry Harris, you really missed the mark on this one. Frankly, this book sounded like an attempt to persuade hungry minds, searching for answers, towards a fatalistic reality - even though he tries to convince you that he’s not fatalistic, nor is his idea fatalistic. If you were looking for some compelling science, you won’t find it here. He spends only a fleeting moment talking about how he got to his conclusions through science, then the rest of the book trying to ‘explain’ what it all means through very unclear terms. If you already agree with Harris on other topics, you’ll probably love this book. If you’re in anyway knowledgeable on philosophy, give this book a hard pass and spend your 1hr reading.... anything else really.

14 people found this helpful

It is a short book

What did you love best about Free Will?

Sam Harris is a favorite author so I will buy whatever he puts out- Knowing this Harris has decided to put out micro books that make tired old points that he can make slightly better than everyone else. This book is about free will- noting that the reasons we make decisions are biological, sociological and just plain logical. Religion really does not enter into the book but rather Harris reviews all the old favorite that come to mind when one talks of free will-- which takes about as long as an average newscast but costs the same as a real book. I recommend all of his work for major followers of the New Atheism moment but if you don't have regular talks of theology this may be brutally uninteresting for you. For those of us who go to special groups on atheism this is a useful tool to phrase old arguments a little more articulately

What does Sam Harris bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I love listening to Sam Harris both in book and debate because of his calm style that reminds us that the very gruesome stories he sometimes tells to make his points are not there to disgust but to make a point better. It is difficult to not dramatize stories of such profound violence but Harris can speak of those matters calmly better than anyone else

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Unfortunately, yes

Any additional comments?

I recommend everyone get his other book The Moral Landscape-- That is where his magic really is

14 people found this helpful

Not so profound

Would you try another book from Sam Harris and/or Sam Harris?

Of course, but not based on this one.

What could Sam Harris have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Not sure. I simply disagree with how he took the book. It amounts to a disagreement on the definition of "free will" which maybe I can't really hold against the book. I was thoroughly disappointed in the depth of his reasoning and the scope of his thought. The book feels like the first 1/3 was leading to something then you are never taken anywhere special. This book should have been 30% the size it is even though its small to begin with.

Which scene was your favorite?

The part where the woman stands in front of a target with an apple on her head and...

Any additional comments?

Whenever an author brings up an example of someone else's opinion you have never heard of to contrast with their own, and doesn't successfully defend his point of view against it, one is left feeling let down (in this case Daniel Dennett). Of course free will is nonsensical as we commonly think of it, but instead of stating that directly and moving on, Sam Harris gets stuck in first gear with simply "we don't have free will".

10 people found this helpful

Sam Harris is Determined to be a Determinist

Sam Harris is determined to tell us why he doesn't have free will.

Harris adopts a naive faith in the universality of cause and effect as the foundation of his simplistic acceptance of determinism as the source of all human behavior. Harris bases his thesis on the idea that if we knew everything that was going on in the universe we could predict all events for the remainder of eternity. This kind of grade school determinism flies in the face of modern physics which is based on probabilities and not on cause and effect. The existence of randomness, non locality, chaos theory and quantum indeterminacy disprove simple cause and effect determinism without further discussion. We may know that several million people may eat at McDonalds this week, but we can never predict which ones will order a double cheeseburger.

Curiously Harris simply says that randomness and probability theory do not prove the existence of free will. True enough, but they do definitively disprove determinism by showing that the universe does not operate based on simple cause and effect and is far more complex than Harris imagines.

Harris argues that unconscious decision making demonstrates that we lack free will. To the contrary, people make decisions using both their conscious and unconscious minds. Often
a decision must marinate in the unconscious before it surfaces as a conscious decision.

Free Will means that we can do what we want and make decisions about how to achieve our own interests. Since humans are self interested their decisions are always made in light of those interests. And if we act in our own interests that means we are acting based on our own will. And if our acts are acts of will they are obviously freely made.

Not only is there free will but there is no other kind of will. Acts of will are acts of the being and that is the very essence of free will. Harris, on the other hand, believes he is just a zombie whose actions are determined by prior states that he is unaware of.

It is hard to understand how an intelligent person could write such gibberish.
But, at least according to Harris, he had no choice.

8 people found this helpful

CLASSIC SAM HARRIS

Sam Harris can write anything and I'll enjoy it. Sometimes I'll heartily agree, sometimes I'll wonder where I stand on an issue but I always have a good time listening.

8 people found this helpful

Excellent, interesting book.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to everyone. Important information that can change the way you view your fellow humans and boost your compassion for everyone.

7 people found this helpful