Wow! I was waiting for this book, and it did not disappoint!
The very first chapter had me grinning like a loon as the author used an analogy I hadn't heard before but resonated with how I approach antecedent conditions when identifying possible functions for behaviour. He spoke about turtles upon turtles upon turtles - turtles all the way down. The point is, what is at the bottom? How did it get there? What started it?
In conjunction with his other book, Behave, looking at the history of the individual that has brought them to the decision they are making in the here and now can tell you a lot about why they may be making that decision.
We are all products of our environment. We are all products of our learning history and history of behaviours that have been reinforced (or punished) in the past. This goes all the way back to the cellular level when we develop and are born. Even further back to generations before us, our ancestors thousands of years ago.
Robert Sapolsky interweaves the science of neurobiology and speaks about his experiences as an expert witness in criminal trials, advocating for individuals who made the choices they made due to their circumstances. Seems pretty logical to me, but society is not run this way. Punishment is the key - do the crime, do the time. But what if what that person did was the only thing they could do at that time?
Delving into the notion of 'there is no free will' is a tough pill to swallow. And Sapolksy provides excellent references to current and past research in a number of different fields that try to demonstrate this scientifically.
While, at times, I found myself immersed in his discussion points and finally feeling like someone was coherently explaining my thoughts, there was some content that did have me scratching my head and challenging my thinking. But that is a good thing with any new information, right? It challenges you to think differently and look at things from a slightly different perspective.
The book isn't necessarily trying to convince people to believe there is no free will (although it very clearly explains why this is the case), and it sets out very clearly why no free will does not mean 'no choice' or 'lack of responsibility for your actions', but the bottom line is about humanity and kindness. If we look beyond the here and now, we will gather a lot of valuable information to be able to understand the person in front of us and why they do what they do. Whether this is someone in front of the court system, a disabled child in a special education setting, your pet jumping up on you as you come in the door, or your partner leaving their wet towels on the floor (again). If we stop, take a second, and evaluate the why with some kindness and compassion, we may just see all the turtles at play.
Have you read this book yet?
0%Yes - loved it 💕
0%Nope 🙅
0%Not yet, but I want to 📖
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