#842 Kevin Mitchell - Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will
The Dissenter
The Origins of Life: Metabolism First vs. RNA World
This chapter discusses the origins of life on Earth and the debate between the metabolism first hypothesis and the RNA world hypothesis. It explores a scenario near hydrothermal vents where life could have evolved, focusing on the formation of self-enclosed chemical reactions and the importance of genetic material in directing cell configuration.
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Dr. Kevin Mitchell is Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin. He is interested in the development of connectivity in the brain, specifically in how this process is controlled by genes and how mutations in such genes affect the connectivity of neuronal circuits, influence behavior and perception and contribute to disease. His latest book is Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will.
In this episode, we focus on Free Agents. We start by discussing how scientists approach free will, and if we should define free will. We go through some of the major steps in the evolution of free will, and talk about the origins of life on Earth; informational causation; the purpose of life; meaning and value; the evolution of decision making; agency; the evolution of nervous systems; the neocortex; and self-awareness. We talk about how we simulate different courses of action, and how we should understand decision making as a process. We discuss indeterminacy in Physics and Neuroscience. We talk about the Libet experiments, and studies of brain legions. We discuss personality traits and other psychological predispositions. We talk about constraints and top-down causation. Finally, we discuss the link between free will and moral responsibility.
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A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, JIM FRANK, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, TOM VANEGDOM, BERNARD HUGUENEY, CURTIS DIXON, BENEDIKT MUELLER, THOMAS TRUMBLE, KATHRINE AND PATRICK TOBIN, JONCARLO MONTENEGRO, AL NICK ORTIZ, AND NICK GOLDEN!
AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS, MATTHEW LAVENDER, SERGIU CODREANU, BOGDAN KANIVETS, AND ROSEY!
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