Free Will: A Definitive Debate

"Two titans of neuroscience and philosophy come together to debate the existence of free will – a question with profound implications for identity, justice, and the very meaning of life itself. 

"Do human beings have free will? 

"For Stanford neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky, science clearly demonstrates that free will is a powerful and dangerous illusion. Without free will, it makes no more sense to punish people for antisocial behaviour than it does to scold a car for breaking down. It is no one's fault they are poor or overweight or unsuccessful, nor do people deserve praise for their talent or hard work; 'grit' is a myth.­ 

"But for philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett, free will is not only compatible with our current scientific knowledge but justified by it. Free will underwrites our moral and artistic responsibility – and reason and self-control are both real and desirable. 

"Coming together to debate this question for the first time, these two intellectual giants will delve deep into the science and philosophy of the mind and get to the heart of this ancient and vitally important question."

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Click on the link below for an hour-long video debate that clarifies the science and science-based philosophy of Free Will. Two points from me: 1) Both reject any supernatural/spiritual elements and agree that the phenomenon is deterministic. 2) It was close, but I think the scientist (Sapolsky) won over the philosopher (Dennett), surprise, surprise.

Do We Have Freewill?

Another Christian Apologist Attempting To Explain Free Will

 Click on the link below for a short video of a Christian apologist attempting to support the discredited concept of Free Will:

Goofy Arguments About Free Will

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This video clarified the subject 2 years ago: 
("We don't have it, but should live like we do.")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_BTVN68-ZA

Random, Determined, Butterfly Effect

"Chaos theory means deterministic systems can be unpredictable"

The Science Behind the Butterfly Effect

"Is the future of the universe already determined? Vsauce tackles "What is Random?": https://youtu.be/9rIy0xY99a0"

What is NOT Random?

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An interesting look into these three terms.

Reality Is Deterministic And Random, No Matter Your Perceptions And Biases

"We've all heard of an amazing coincidence, or maybe one's even happened to you. Makes you wonder if there might be something out there pulling the strings. "But is it proof of something bigger? Or is it just normal probability?"

The mind can easily deceive us because of our confirmation biases. Click on the link below:

10 Amazing Coincidences (And Why They're Not Amazing Really)

Taking The Woo Out of Quantum Mechanics

Many pseudoscience-oriented folks attempt to use quantum mechanics to explain such unsupported claims such as human free will and consciousness. This 13-min video does a pretty good job both in explaining quantum mechanics, as well as falsifying the claims that humans have free will and that consciousness is independent of the brain:

• "The fundamental underpinnings of nature are probabilistic, or nondeterministic. - - - we have to be careful not to extrapolate what happens at the quantum level, to the deterministic world of our everyday experience. Just because free will implies that your decisions are not deterministic, and quantum mechanics also implies that the properties of small particles are not deterministic, the two are not related. There is no science linking free will with quantum uncertainty."

The woo explained! Consciousness, Free will, Observation in Quantum physics