Hi - I'm reading "Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst" by Robert M. Sapolsky and wanted to share this quote with you.
"This establishes a dichotomy of what things are supposedly made of: Biological stuff Homuncular grit Destructive sexual urges Resisting acting upon them Delusionally hearing voices Resisting their destructive commands Proclivity toward alcoholism Not drinking Having epileptic seizures Not driving if you didn't take your meds Not all that bright Getting going when the going gets tough Not the loveliest of faces Resisting getting that huge, hideous nose ring Here are just a few of the things we've seen in this book that can influence the column on the right: blood glucose levels; the socioeconomic status of your family of birth; a concussive head injury; sleep quality and quantity; prenatal environment; stress and glucocorticoid levels; whether you're in pain; if you have Parkinson's disease and which medication you've been prescribed; perinatal hypoxia; your dopamine D4 receptor gene variant; if you have had a stroke in your frontal cortex; if you suffered childhood abuse; how much of a cognitive load you've borne in the last few minutes; your MAO-A gene variant; if you're infected with a particular parasite; if you have the gene for Huntington's disease; lead levels in your tap water when you were a kid; if you live in an individualist or a collectivist culture; if you're a heterosexual male and there's an attractive woman around; if you've been smelling the sweat of someone who is frightened. On and on. Of all the stances of mitigated free will, the one that assigns aptitude to biology and effort to free will, or impulse to biology and resisting it to free will, is the most permeating and destructive. "You must have worked so hard""
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_- Steve
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