Maggie’s driving is the perfect metaphor for how the body creates the illusion of free will.
It feels like we’re maggie, making choices that our body then does. But looking at the full picture shows that the nerve signals that initiate action happen before the conscious choice. Marge - our brain - determines what we do without any input from Maggie, and this also signals Maggie to feel that she’s made a choice.
We’re all just Maggie, trapped in a vehicle we have no control over, pretending otherwise.
No, go buy it from the store like a normal person.
In all seriousness though, this is the emerging consensus of scientific experts. The fact that we’re conscious of our actions doesn’t mean our consciousness is in control. Free will is like god - it’s just incompatible with our observations of the world.
![Guess the Episode [Genius at Work]](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/9c0823d2-d551-4ecb-b356-9b0b7893a492.jpeg){kind=link}
Maggie’s driving is the perfect metaphor for how the body creates the illusion of free will.
It feels like we’re maggie, making choices that our body then does. But looking at the full picture shows that the nerve signals that initiate action happen before the conscious choice. Marge - our brain - determines what we do without any input from Maggie, and this also signals Maggie to feel that she’s made a choice.
We’re all just Maggie, trapped in a vehicle we have no control over, pretending otherwise.
…can I buy some pot from you?
No, go buy it from the store like a normal person.
In all seriousness though, this is the emerging consensus of scientific experts. The fact that we’re conscious of our actions doesn’t mean our consciousness is in control. Free will is like god - it’s just incompatible with our observations of the world.
Does this explain why I woke up a year later, realising that she didn’t actually want coffee at 9pm?