Nate's Reviews > Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will

A little while ago I read a book of pessimistic philosophy called the conspiracy against the human race. That book was pushing the idea that we have no free will, we’re just meat machines driven by hormones and genes with a consciousness that gave us the ability to lie to ourselves about the truth of our existence. This book pulls back the curtain of that intellectual exercise, exploring the biological processes behind the thinking.

He explains that we are genetically predisposed to certain behaviours but environmental factors are needed to flip the genetic switches. Those factors could include your upbringing from a very early age including stress your mother endured as well as her diet while you were still in the womb. It goes on to show that your family’s financial situation is predictive of your life expectancy.
He makes his case by making every case FOR free will and arguing them each in turn. He eventually gets to explaining how similar humans act to other life forms that do not have consciousness or free will who have more pragmatic reasons for their actions. He thinks that none of us is truly responsible for their actions because they’re basically predetermined from birth, including cereal killers (which he has an entertaining chapter about) and though they shouldn’t be punished, they should be quarantined for the safety of others.

I’m not sure if he really conclusively proves his case but I didn’t find it as compelling as the conspiracy against the human race because that book was written in more relatable terms and didn’t include the dry facts and figures of this more scientific one.