Before epilepsy was understood to be a neurological condition, people believed it was caused by the moon, or by phlegm in the brain. They condemned seizures as evidence of witchcraft or demonic possession, and killed or castrated sufferers to prevent them from passing tainted blood to a new generation.
  • Umbrias@beehaw.orgEnglish
    7·
    1 year ago

    It’s a philosophical and semantic discussion and they have taken a side. If people could stop framing this as a scientific absolute that would be great.

    • nomad@infosec.pubEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      I agree. Its a technicality. Yes we dont have free will. But just in the sense that we can decide according to our free will, just that all the factors forming that decision have already happended and would have happened any other way. So free will exists, but its just a very complex illusion.

      • Umbrias@beehaw.orgEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        Just depends on how you define free will, what you take from that definition, how you approach the randomness of quantum physics, and how you feel about the boundary conditions of the universe.

  • confluence@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    Sapolsky is an incredible behavioral biologist. You can watch a whole course of his Stanford lectures for free on YouTube.