Interesting (really!). Re the original experiment that showed a "readiness potential" occurs in the human brain just before ‘spontaneous’ actions. In fact, this brain event happens even before we are aware of deciding to act.:
Well yes, but as many critics have pointed out the kinds of decisions that were being monitored were pretty trivial (eg, choosing whether or not to flex a finger). It didn't involve the kind of hard thinking you'd have to do if you were deciding whether to get married or make a career change. On a more philosophical point: suppose it is true that your brain decides things and you only become aware of what "you've" already decided to do a second or so later? It is still *you* - your deeper self/your unconscious - that made that decision. So what if your conscious self only learns what choice you freely decided upon slightly later? The original research is intriguing but not as world shattering as the scientists involved are claiming. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote : http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/2014/11/12/rats-free-will/#.VGVxi_nF-Sp http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/2014/11/12/rats-free-will/#.VGVxi_nF-Sp
