Series 2, Episode 28: Free agents: How evolution gave us free will, with Professor Kevin Mitchell, Trinity College Dublin

“The question of whether we have free will does not have a yes-or-no, all-or-none answer. Instead, we have degrees of freedom – an idea that is reasonably well captured… by a more commonsense understanding of the (still useful) notion of free will. That understanding entails, first, the ability to make choices – that we really can choose what to do. Our actions are not simply determined by outside forces because we’re causally set apart from the rest of the universe to at least some degree. And, just as importantly, we are not driven by our own parts. Rather, we holistically – our selves – are in charge.”

So says our guest today on the Brain for Business podcast, Dr Kevin Mitchell, of Trinity College Dublin.

Kevin takes an evolutionary approach to the question of free will and amongst other things argues that:

• Humans have agency and the capacity of self-control – we have the ability to adjust our focus and behaviour in real time depending on what is happening around us
• While genes do influence our behaviour, this is not a direct or deterministic relationship and there are many factors that impact on our innate natures and behaviours
• These factors include learning and experience, as well as the important and largely positive role played by constraints, including the basic need for a survival as well as social rules, norms and culture

About Kevin…

Dr Kevin Mitchell is an Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin.

Kevin’s research is aimed at understanding the genetic program specifying the wiring of the brain and its relevance to variation in human faculties, especially to psychiatric and neurological disease and to perceptual conditions like synaesthesia. As part of his research, Kevin also studies the biology of agency and free will.

Kevin is an active communicator on Twitter and writes a popular blog on the intersection of genetics, development, neuroscience, psychology and psychiatry. He also regularly gives public lectures and media interviews on diverse topics, with the goal of promoting public understanding of neuroscience and genetics. His 2018 book "Innate; How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are", published by Princeton University Press, develops an integrative conceptual framework in which to consider the origins of variation in human faculties, through a novel synthesis of findings from behavioural genetics, developmental neurobiology, neuroscience and psychology. Kevin’s most recent book – Free agents: How evolution gave us free will – is published on 3rd October, 2023, but Princeton University Press.

You can find more about Kevin’s work at his website – www.kjmitchell.com – at his blog - (http://www.wiringthebrain.com – and by following him on Twitter: @WiringtheBrain.

Kevin’s latest book, Free agents: How evolution gave us free will, is available on Amazon (https://amzn.eu/d/7Qkafwv) as well as all good bookstores.

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