I don't even see psychotherapy needing free will to work. Once a person is fed with the information, skills and experience to understand himself better this can lead to completely deterministic improvements in the person since he was a person that is able to benefit from those.

as a Buddhist I hear value in what you are saying; we talk of the 2 truths: emptiness-interdependence, and karma-self-agency...

Sapolsky defies specifically the foundations of psychoanalysis. I've read his last book, and his evidence is solid. I am austistic too.

There is an important difference between agency and free will, one that needs to be realized. Psychotherapy puts in motion what was already possible

I find the balance between "humanism vs determinism" based on the preference for "feelings vs things", which simply means that either you're a people-person or a things-person? Both have evil at the extremes because beyond the limits is psychosis and the absence of recognition of ones actions.. My question would be "What is the central force that motivates a person from a humanistic vs deterministic vs balance" and what the meaningful word behind each motivation is?

I enjoyed this. Thank you.

Agree a therapy session would not be a good time to tell someone they have no free will. 😅 In fact, it once came up with my old psychologist and I joked that I was surprised to hear it from them. If conciousness does not simply arise from the physical matter of the brain then is there space for our free will to exist that is not affected by cause and effect relating to physical matter? Also I think its relevant that many of the examples given, such as SES, are not truly deterministic but are probabilistically causal. My mind keeps thinking about the experiment that measured that people were already on their way to push the button before they reported deciding to push it. Its caused me to wonder if my mind isnt just constantly story telling, after the fact, about everything that happens to my physical body. My next question is whether the story telling is deterministic or not. It certainly feels like I can influence the future and illusion or not maybe that's good enough!

Disbelief in free will has definitely negatively affected my development. Too bad what's true is not always what's helpful. People like Sapolsky and Harris seem very good at compartmentalizing their beliefs from their emotions. I don't think it occurs to them that this is not a universal trait.

good talk. In my own deep dive, being strapped down and skinned (circumcised) on the 3rd of life is a superstupid event.... that I seek to change. Poor parents aren't necessarily bad parents. Some of them are quite good, where wealthy parents can be terrible. I think that Sabine Hossenfeld observed that we are optimization machines, so we will still seek relief from our inflictions, imho. #intactivism

I was trying to describe this to my therapist but I didn't have the vocabulary. Thank you for sharing this. I always worried when we would talk about identity and my worry about accepting a label because of humans proclivity to fall into the label and accept it as fact. I want a growth mindset and I get scared if I accept any label or proclaim that "I am thus..." It will inevitably make it true.

I like the way you frame these concepts and how you relate it to your own experience. Well done

I really liked your video and I love Sapolsky and I wanted to see the critique to make sure I'm not biased. But there's a part I think you're not getting. He talks about socio-economy and it's different from neuro- development disorders. Because the latter is genetics and it is found in every society and ethnic group but socio-economy means environment changing how your genes manifest.

🎉

LOVES YOU

Quick question: Neurodivergence is bounded to diagnostic? Related to that: How do you view autistic identity in ex-asperguers? Now autistics.

Apologies for the tome, but I just couldn't help myself... And for context, this is from a normal, neurodivergent, everyday person who is not academic, just thinks way too much about this stuff. I haven't read Sapolsky, but the book is already ordered. This response is made in good faith. I have no intention of arguing with anyone or changing anyone's mind... I see a lot of the arguments against determinism paralleling the arguments against atheism: -Without a god there is no morality = without free will there is no incentive to try -Without a god the universe is meaningless = without free will life is purposeless -Without a creator god we are no different than apes = without free will I am no different than a computer -Without a god how can we explain the universe = without free will how can I understand my actions From my view, the similarities stem from the same fear- the fear that we are not special in terms of our place in the cosmos; fear of what happens when we face the strong possibility that one of our dearest beliefs, a belief that we've integrated with our identity, might be altogether a fiction; a fear of who am I without this belief? Camus showed us that we don't have to despair in the death of the gods, that in fact, it actually frees us to find our own answers, to create our own meanings. At the time, that was a radical thought. And in many ways, the question of free will is just one of the many stops along the roads of Existentialism. The way I see it, I can't expect to be able understand myself fully if I'm not being intellectually honest with myself. And like the evidence for any god, there is none for free will. In fact, the idea of free will just complicates things unnecessarily. It's at the root of the american justice system- criminals, addicts etc aren't humans who are responding to a series of traumas coupled with epi/genetics that further antagonize their struggles. No, they are moral beings who chose to do what they did and should be punished, not rehabilitated. For me, having an internalized understanding of my deterministic operations in no way changes the sense of agency that still have. I can't help but act as if I have free will. Even in times of deep depression, in prolonged ADHD side missions, or when I was in active addiction, I always felt as though I had choices and acted accordingly. But understanding that I don't have free will changes how I approach my life. I know that I am physically, emotionally, and psychologically unhealthy when I eat poorly, when I don't sleep 7-9 hours every night, when I isolate, when I keep toxic people in my life, when I feed myself toxic media. When I let go of the insistence I have free will (and, in addition, that there is no "me" to have, let alone exert, free will) I open myself up to the processes and properties of emergence. I avail myself to the resources of the world, understanding that my actions don't perform in a vacuum, they are all contextual. I am not separate from everything around me, I am a part of everything, seamlessly integrated, like a bubble in the ocean. This allows me to look at the evidence for what does change behavior and mental states. I am not Depression, I am not ADHD, I am not addiction. I do have those traits, and because they have been so well studied, I can look at the evidence for what's worked for other people and find ways to manage those parts that interfere with the life I want for myself. That same approach also informs my sense of justice and morality. The better I can understand someone's context, the better I can respond to them appropriately. The belief in free will just muddies all those waters. It easy to focus, even obsess, over what we think we will lose or have lost. It's harder to to envision what we may gain when invest in a different future. Change is always already happening, but what part do I play in it? There. I said it. I said too much. Feel free to never invite me back. It may be wise.

yeah.... appreciate your effort. wouldn't go back to youthful paddaling for a quadtrillion bucks.

Willpower, but free is a stretch

Therapy is teaching the person how to play with the cards they are dealt, despite the urge to fold, and the natural pity believing the other players are blessed with unlimited chips

Keep telling ppl to agree with you if that makes you happy, if you know everything you're probably right.

you hava a master of explaining and clearing this all up for you and others....which is why i imagine you are posting this? to help others? ....but you give the guy about 18 seconds of your 6 minute one-sided therapy session. why are you really videotaping yourself doing this? for healing and clarity but you're doing all the talking and almost no listening.

Sapolsky is a 14 year old trapped in a old man's body