#1132 Kevin Mitchell: Free Will, Robert Sapolsky, the Genomic Code, and Human Embryo Editing

Aug 4, 2025

In this engaging discussion, Kevin Mitchell, an Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin, dives into the complexities of free will and decision-making. He explores the biological foundations of our choices, the role of heuristics, and how our genes may influence behavior. The conversation challenges deterministic views, emphasizing that even single-celled organisms exhibit agency. Additionally, they tackle the ethical implications of human embryo editing, highlighting the need for a nuanced understanding of genetics and its impact on our lives.

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INSIGHT

Agency Exists From Life's Start

Agency exists even in single-celled organisms like bacteria, which exhibit goal-directed behavior favoring their persistence.
Agency is holistic and integrative, not just passive stimulus response, and is coextensive with life.

INSIGHT

Brain Harnesses Molecular Noise

Neural molecular machinery is extremely noisy with molecular jitter and thermal fluctuations.
Evolution configures robust macroscopic brain organization to harness this noise and enable meaningful cognitive functions.

INSIGHT

Top-Down Causation Matters

Western science traditionally focuses on bottom-up physical causes but overlooks top-down causation and configurational causes.
Top-down causation involves systems' organization influencing outcomes without invoking mysticism, crucial to understanding free will.

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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 start by talking about free will. We discuss free will at the molecular level and the different levels of analysis. We discuss top-down causation and process philosophy. We talk about decision-making, why certain possibilities spring to mind and not others, and why it can pay off to behave randomly sometimes. We also discuss whether AI could have free will. We then talk about Dr. Mitchell’s debates with Dr. Robert Sapolsky, and how we should reframe the free will debate within science. We discuss the genomic code, and how the genome instantiates a generative model of the organism. Finally, we talk about the science and ethics of human embryo editing, and the trouble with eugenics.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, JERRY MULLER, BERNARDO SEIXAS, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, FILIP FORS CONNOLLY, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, COLIN HOLBROOK, PHIL KAVANAGH, SAMUEL ANDREEFF, FRANCIS FORDE, TIAGO NUNES, FERGAL CUSSEN, HAL HERZOG, NUNO MACHADO, JONATHAN LEIBRANT, JOÃO LINHARES, STANTON T, SAMUEL CORREA, ERIK HAINES, MARK SMITH, JOÃO EIRA, TOM HUMMEL, SARDUS FRANCE, DAVID SLOAN WILSON, YACILA DEZA-ARAUJO, ROMAIN ROCH, DIEGO LONDOÑO CORREA, YANICK PUNTER, CHARLOTTE BLEASE, NICOLE BARBARO, ADAM HUNT, PAWEL OSTASZEWSKI, NELLEKE BAK, GUY MADISON, GARY G HELLMANN, SAIMA AFZAL, ADRIAN JAEGGI, PAULO TOLENTINO, JOÃO BARBOSA, JULIAN PRICE, HEDIN BRØNNER, DOUGLAS FRY, FRANCA BORTOLOTTI, GABRIEL PONS CORTÈS, URSULA LITZCKE, SCOTT, ZACHARY FISH, TIM DUFFY, SUNNY SMITH, JON WISMAN, WILLIAM BUCKNER, PAUL-GEORGE ARNAUD, LUKE GLOWACKI, GEORGIOS THEOPHANOUS, CHRIS WILLIAMSON, PETER WOLOSZYN, DAVID WILLIAMS, DIOGO COSTA, ALEX CHAU, AMAURI MARTÍNEZ, CORALIE CHEVALLIER, BANGALORE ATHEISTS, LARRY D. LEE JR., OLD HERRINGBONE, MICHAEL BAILEY, DAN SPERBER, ROBERT GRESSIS, JEFF MCMAHAN, JAKE ZUEHL, BARNABAS RADICS, MARK CAMPBELL, TOMAS DAUBNER, LUKE NISSEN, KIMBERLY JOHNSON, JESSICA NOWICKI, LINDA BRANDIN, VALENTIN STEINMANN, ALEXANDER HUBBARD, BR, JONAS HERTNER, URSULA GOODENOUGH, DAVID PINSOF, SEAN NELSON, MIKE LAVIGNE, JOS KNECHT, LUCY, MANVIR SINGH, PETRA WEIMANN, CAROLA FEEST, MAURO JÚNIOR, 航豊川, TONY BARRETT, NIKOLAI VISHNEVSKY, STEVEN GANGESTAD, TED FARRIS, ROBINROSWELL, KEITH RICHARDSON, HUGO B., JAMES, JORDAN MANSFIELD, AND CHARLOTTE ALLEN!

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