Comments
  1. The AtlanticStephen Cave5/16/1620 min
    2 reads1 comment
    9.0
    The Atlantic
    2 reads
    9.0
    You must read the article before you can comment on it.
    • jeff3 years ago

      Excellent article! The author does a great job exploring the different perspectives on a complex and controversial issue. One of my favorite takeaways is that it has been scientifically proven that those who do not believe in free will are more likely to be assholes. That certainly aligns with my prior assessment of Sam Harris! Seriously though, even though I disagree with him for the most part on this issue I do totally agree with this:

      “We need,” Harris told me, “to know what are the levers we can pull as a society to encourage people to be the best version of themselves they can be.”

      I just think it's kind of absurd how sure he is of himself and his beliefs on the topic:

      True, if we were put in exactly the same situation again, then 100 times out of 100 we would make the same decision, “just like rewinding a movie and playing it again.”

      I'm pretty sure some physicists would take issue with that. The whole pure determinism perspective seems to show a severe lack of appreciation for the complexity of the brain and how little we understand about consciousness.