The Power of Epigenetics in Shaping Generational Effects

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Epigenetics is a potent mechanism in determining one's development, influenced by early life experiences and environmental factors. It does not alter genes but changes how genes are regulated based on the environment. This mechanism explains how trauma can have multi-generational effects. While epigenetics is powerful, it cannot be consciously controlled to reverse past effects. It operates in a similar manner to billiard balls, shaping individuals based on a combination of factors including genetics and environment.

Sam Harris speaks with Robert Sapolsky about the widespread belief in free will. They discuss the limits of intuition, the views of Dan Dennett, complexity and emergence, downward causation, abstraction, epigenetics, predictability, fatalism, Benjamin Libet, the primacy of luck, historical change in attitudes about free will, implications for ethics and criminal justice, the psychological satisfaction of punishing bad people, understanding evil, punishment and reward as tools, meritocracy, the consequences of physical beauty, the logic of reasoning, and other topics.

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