Optimal Being

 A volley of new insights reignites the debate over whether our choices are ever truly our own. You ’ re thirsty so you reach for a glass of water. It ’ s either a freely chosen action or the inevitable result of the laws of nature, depending on who you ask. Do we have free will? The question is ancient — and vexing. Everyone seems to have pondered it, and many seem quite certain of the answer, which is typically either “ yes ” or “ absolutely not. ” One scientist in the “ absolutely not ” camp is   Robert Sapolsky . In his new book,   Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will , the primatologist and Stanford professor of neurology spells out why we can ’ t possibly have free will. Why do we behave one way and not another? Why do we choose Brand A over Brand B, or vote for Candidate X over Candidate Y? Not because we have free will, but because every act and thought are the product of “ cumulative biological and environmental luck. ” Sapolsky tells readers that th...

Altruistic behavior takes place in a different part of the brain to similar activity to help oneself, new research has found An area of the brain specifically involved in putting in effort to help others out has been pinpointed by scientists at the University of Birmingham and University of Oxford. The research, published in  Current Biology,  shows that effortful altruistic behaviour -choices people make that help others -- takes place in a different part of the brain from that used to make physically demanding choices that help oneself. Understanding more precisely what goes on in the brain when these decisions are made could help clinicians to develop approaches for treating psychopathic behaviours. It could also be useful for better understanding why people are willing to perform everyday effortful helping behaviours like voluntary work, recycling waste to slow global warming or stopping to help strangers. The area identified, called the anterior cingulate cortex gyrus (AC...