I really enjoyed this conversation and found Tim fascinating although I knew nothing much about him. I was surprised that he struggled to make his point about our lack of free will. Sam Harris convinced me of this although it doesn’t take away from the responsibility of people who live in society with the rules and expectations that are in place. Likewise encouraging people who excel and have managed to contributed to society. If we didn’t live with anyone else then there would be no need to worry about whether free will exists as our behaviour wouldn’t be of any consequence. So we can accept determinism and responsibility for our actions. Clearly whether mass murderers could have done other than they did doesn’t mean we don’t lock them up.
I really enjoyed this conversation and found Tim fascinating although I knew nothing much about him. I was surprised that he struggled to make his point about our lack of free will. Sam Harris convinced me of this although it doesn’t take away from the responsibility of people who live in society with the rules and expectations that are in place. Likewise encouraging people who excel and have managed to contributed to society. If we didn’t live with anyone else then there would be no need to worry about whether free will exists as our behaviour wouldn’t be of any consequence. So we can accept determinism and responsibility for our actions. Clearly whether mass murderers could have done other than they did doesn’t mean we don’t lock them up.
Have you read Robert Sapolsky's "Determined"? On that podcast episode, Robert and Peter "get into it." (I'm fully on Team Determined.)
Haven’t read him but heard the episode plus one on Sam Harris. I like how Sam explains it.
Wow, this episode was fantastic!