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...

We can account for the evolution of consciousness only if we crack the  philosophy, as well as the physics, of the brain. The science of consciousness has not lived up to expectations. Over the summer, the neuroscientist Christof Koch  conceded defeat  on his 25-year bet with the philosopher David Chalmers, a lost wager that the science of consciousness would be all wrapped up by now. In September, over 100 consciousness researchers signed a  public letter  condemning one of the most popular theories of consciousness—the integrated information theory—as pseudoscience. This in turn prompted strong  responses  from other researchers in the field. Despite decades of research, there’s little sign of consensus on consciousness, with several rival theories still in contention. Your consciousness is what it’s like to be you. It’s your experiences of color and sound and smell; your feelings of pain, joy, excitement or tiredness. It’s w...