Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will

IN-PERSON: Let’s meet and talk about the arguments for or against free will based on Robert Sapolsky’s latest **[book](https://a.co/d/cXnlUBq)**. “One of our great behavioral scientists, the bestselling author of Behave, plumbs the depths of the science and philosophy of decision-making to mount a devastating case against free will, an argument with profound consequences.” Thank you Bryan for making the suggestion!

Everyone is welcome whether you have read the book or not.

You can:

* [read a sample from the current book](https://www.amazon.com/Determined-Science-Life-without-Free-ebook/dp/B0BSKQ5ZDM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=24U0IVK2ZQ62U&keywords=determined+sapolsky&qid=1700412544&s=digital-text&sprefix=determined+%2Cdigital-text%2C114&sr=1-1&asin=B0BSKQ5ZDM&revisionId=c5a342d3&format=2&depth=3)
* [view past selections](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1obtqw5MLQU5LCB2O53-_r1cmwwigvPlY-o36UomzzgQ/edit#gid=784660170)
* [view pool of candidates](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1obtqw5MLQU5LCB2O53-_r1cmwwigvPlY-o36UomzzgQ/edit#gid=1700718540)
* [add your ideas to the pool of candidates](https://forms.gle/k9m9TsTSBFKEmjHy9)

At this meeting each person can nominate a book to be voted on whether it is from the pool of candidates or not.

We’ll be meeting at [A Moveable Feast](https://www.amoveablefeast.com/), “the most famous health food store in Texas.” There is ample parking in the nearby lot.

Come prepared to discuss the ideas in the book and have a good time.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

More about the current selection:

“Determined offers a marvelous synthesis of what we know about how consciousness works—the tight weave between reason and emotion and between stimulus and response in the moment and over a life. One by one, Sapolsky tackles all the major arguments for free will and takes them out, cutting a path through the thickets of chaos and complexity science and quantum physics, as well as touching ground on some of the wilder shores of philosophy. He shows us that the history of medicine is in no small part the history of learning that fewer and fewer things are somebody’s “fault”; for example, for centuries we thought seizures were a sign of demonic possession.

“Yet, as he acknowledges, it’s very hard, and at times impossible, to uncouple from our zeal to judge others and to judge ourselves. Sapolsky applies the new understanding of life beyond free will to some of our most essential questions around punishment, morality, and living well together. By the end, Sapolsky argues that while living our daily lives recognizing that we have no free will is going to be monumentally difficult, doing so is not going to result in anarchy, pointlessness, and existential malaise. Instead, it will make for a much more humane world.”