PHILOSOPHY: Is there “free will”?

“We are nothing more or less than the cumulative biological and environmental luck, over which we had no control, that has brought us to any moment.” — Stanford neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky

https://bookfreak.substack.com/p/book-freak-202-determined?publication_id=1194226&post_id=184457506&isFreemail=true&r=1uhcoe&triedRedirect=true

Book Freak #202: Determined
A Science of Life without Free Will
Mark Frauenfelder
Mar 17, 2026

*** begin quote ***

Core Principles

  • You Are the Sum of Luck You Didn’t Choose
  • Your Brain Decides Before “You” Do
  • Childhood Sculpts the Adult Brain
  • No Justifiable “Deserve”

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If there is “free will”, then is it in the small choices we do get to make? 

If there is no “free will”, is anyone ever “responsible” for what they do?

If there is no “free will”, are we all just NPCs (Non-Playing Characters) in a totally random pin ball game?

Determinism feels wrong.  We’d like to believe we are “in control”.   But are we?

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