Aaron Schurger: "No. Neuroscience Does NOT Threaten Free Will."
Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal
Why the Readiness Potential Might Be Misinterpreted
Aaron questions causal assumptions and proposes the readiness potential reflects lead-up activity, not commitment to move.
The Libet experiment didn't kill free will, says professor of neuroscience Aaron Schurger; the brain's "readiness potential" is simply stochastic neural noise. We then tackle consciousness's role in initiating action, the hard problem, and what it'd take for neuroscience to truly disprove our choices. If you’re interested in the topics above, I think you’ll love this podcast. Sponsors: - Get 50% off Claude Pro, including access to Claude Code, at https://claude.ai/theoriesofeverything - Get your copy of Richard Fain’s Delivering the Wow—available today on Amazon, or wherever you buy your books. - As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e Timestamps: - 00:00 - The Readiness Potential - 07:14 - Reinterpreting Libet's Results - 24:18 - Autocorrelated Neural Noise - 36:06 - Noise vs. Conscious Imperative - 43:46 - Resolving Libet's Paradox - 50:55 - The Point of No Return - 56:11 - Attention Schema Theory - 01:03:47 - Explaining "What It's Like" - 01:17:00 - Consciousness & Action Initiation - 01:24:54 - Testing Consciousness Thresholds Links mentioned: - Aaron Schurger’s Papers: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lBSjfagAAAAJ&hl=en - Daniel Dennett [TOE]: https://youtu.be/bH553zzjQlI - Determined: A Science Of Life Without Free Will [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Determined-Science-Life-without-Free/dp/B0BVNSX4CQ/ref=sr_1_1 - Robert Sapolsky [TOE]: https://youtu.be/z0IqA1hYKY8 - An Accumulator Model For Spontaneous Neuralactivity Prior To Self-Initiated Movement [Paper]: https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.1210467109 - Consciousness Iceberg [TOE]: https://youtu.be/65yjqIDghEk - Stephen Wolfram [TOE]: https://youtu.be/0YRlQQw0d-4 - Awareness As A Perceptual Model Of Attention [Paper]: https://grazianolab.princeton.edu/sites/g/files/toruqf3411/files/graziano/files/cog_neurosci_2011b.pdf - Cortical Activity Is More Stable When Sensory Stimuliare Consciously Perceived [Paper]: https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.1418730112 - Propofol Anesthesia Destabilizes Neural Dynamics Across Cortex [Paper]: https://www.cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0896-6273%2824%2900446-X - Jenann Ismael [TOE]: https://youtu.be/7kvXihDAOi0 SUPPORT: - Become a YouTube Member (Early Access Videos): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join - Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal - Support me on Crypto: https://commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/de803625-87d3-4300-ab6d-85d4258834a9 - Support me on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=XUBHNMFXUX5S4 SOCIALS: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt - Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs Guests do not pay to appear. Theories of Everything receives revenue solely from viewer donations, platform ads, and clearly labelled sponsors; no guest or associated entity has ever given compensation, directly or through intermediaries. #science
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