Do we have free will – can we change?
"You can do as you wish but you cannot wish as you wish." I have spent this weekend engrossed in the work of Robert Sapolsky, neuroendocrinologist, primatologist and biologist − specifically his book, Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst. As much as we like to think of ourselves as free thinking rational beings, as much as we like to believe that our actions are based on choice, on free will, Sapolsky argues quite convincingly that among all the neurochemical, hormonal, developmental and evolutionary factors, rational thought and free will count for much less than we would like to imagine, if at all. The key question, to…