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The case against free will

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Manage episode 517481965 series 2476722
Content provided by Vox Media Podcast Network. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Vox Media Podcast Network or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

We all think of ourselves as authors of our lives. The difference between our happy ending and someone else’s tragic one are the choices we each make. But what if none of that’s true?

Sean’s guest today is Robert Sapolsky, a biologist and neuroscientist at Stanford University and author of Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will. They dig into Sapolsky’s claim that free will is an illusion and discuss what the science says about genes, stress, culture, and how all this research might reframe the way we think about meritocracy, blame, punishment, and even hatred.

This episode originally aired in November of 2023.

Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling)

Guest: Robert Sapolsky, biologist and neuroscientist at Stanford University and author of Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will.

We’d love to hear from you. Tell us what you thought of this episode by emailing [email protected] or leaving us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show.

And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube⁠.

Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  continue reading

735 episodes

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The case against free will

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

1,522 subscribers

published

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Manage episode 517481965 series 2476722
Content provided by Vox Media Podcast Network. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Vox Media Podcast Network or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

We all think of ourselves as authors of our lives. The difference between our happy ending and someone else’s tragic one are the choices we each make. But what if none of that’s true?

Sean’s guest today is Robert Sapolsky, a biologist and neuroscientist at Stanford University and author of Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will. They dig into Sapolsky’s claim that free will is an illusion and discuss what the science says about genes, stress, culture, and how all this research might reframe the way we think about meritocracy, blame, punishment, and even hatred.

This episode originally aired in November of 2023.

Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling)

Guest: Robert Sapolsky, biologist and neuroscientist at Stanford University and author of Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will.

We’d love to hear from you. Tell us what you thought of this episode by emailing [email protected] or leaving us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show.

And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube⁠.

Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  continue reading

735 episodes

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