This is a truly interesting and eye-opening topic to discuss and I'm surprised no one else has commented on this post! Sam Harris is a brilliant neuroscientist and if you have not watched this video or any of his other talks on this topic, I highly suggest you do. As a psychology major, I found this video to be particularly intriguing because I can understand where Harris's points are coming from. Everything about us: the way we experience the world, the boundaries we impose on ourselves, the way we speak, the choices we make, the thoughts we have, and more are all predetermined. The choices I make, the movements I take, and the things I believe to be right in life are all things that I have been conditioned to do and believe. We follow most of society's norms and control our impulses because we have been taught to do so. Even the way I am constructing this sentence is predetermined by the grammatical boundaries and norms that have been imposed on me since I was born. We all have a will, that much is true, however we do not have a truly free one. This video does great job at making people more aware of how different aspects of their cognition can be influenced by the slightest stimuli!
This is a truly interesting and eye-opening topic to discuss and I'm surprised no one else has commented on this post! Sam Harris is a brilliant neuroscientist and if you have not watched this video or any of his other talks on this topic, I highly suggest you do. As a psychology major, I found this video to be particularly intriguing because I can understand where Harris's points are coming from. Everything about us: the way we experience the world, the boundaries we impose on ourselves, the way we speak, the choices we make, the thoughts we have, and more are all predetermined. The choices I make, the movements I take, and the things I believe to be right in life are all things that I have been conditioned to do and believe. We follow most of society's norms and control our impulses because we have been taught to do so. Even the way I am constructing this sentence is predetermined by the grammatical boundaries and norms that have been imposed on me since I was born. We all have a will, that much is true, however we do not have a truly free one. This video does great job at making people more aware of how different aspects of their cognition can be influenced by the slightest stimuli!
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