Free Will

Understanding Free Will

If we have free will, we can consciously make decisions that are not determined by the physics and biology of our brains. It's a philosophical and religious concept that has found no support in science, despite the strong illusion that we are free. Even if we are not, belief in free will can be healthy, as long as we remain aware that many factors influence our behavior subconsciously.

Putting the Antic in Anticipation

By Scott G. Eberle Ph.D. on January 05, 2018 in Play in Mind

To anticipate being at play is already to be in play.

What We Can Learn from the Sexual Harassment Reckoning

By Tasha Eurich Ph.D. on January 04, 2018 in The Power of Insight

How the bad behavior of a few can help inspire a more self-aware world—if we listen.

Why Your Child is Not One of Your 2017 Accomplishments

By Paula L. White M.A. on December 31, 2017 in Shape Parenting

Trying to tally up your accomplishments for 2017? Great! Just leave your kids out of it!

CC0 Creative Commons Free for commercial use No attribution required. Pixabay

Psychology Explains New Year Resolutions, Hits and Misses

By Raj Persaud, M.D. and Peter Bruggen, M.D. on December 31, 2017 in Slightly Blighty

55.2% of resolutions were health related (exercise: 31.3%, eat healthy: 10.4%, have healthier habits: 13.5%), 34.4% were work related (save: 20.8%, get out of debt: 12.5%)

http://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-3514.91.4.612

Do You See What I See?

By Nathan A Heflick Ph.D. on December 29, 2017 in The Big Questions

Do our goals and motivations influence what we see?

The Joy and Sorrow of Rereading Holt’s "How Children Learn"

By Peter Gray Ph.D. on December 26, 2017 in Freedom to Learn

Holt was a brilliant observer of children in their everyday lives, who decades ago developed some profound insights into how children learn. I wish more people understood them.

4 Keys to Understanding Our Weird, Inconsistent Morality

By Rob Henderson on December 26, 2017 in After Service

What science reveals about morality, and how to make better moral decisions.

Morality Is Objective

By Eric Dietrich Ph.D. on December 23, 2017 in Excellent Beauty

Many people think that morality varies from culture to culture, person to person. But morality is as objective as mathematics or physics.

Life Doesn't Just Happen to Us

By Alex Pattakos Ph.D. on December 18, 2017 in The Meaningful Life

Are you resistant to change? If you want things to stay the same, then something is going to have to change.

Why Am I Here?

By Alex Pattakos Ph.D. on December 11, 2017 in The Meaningful Life

How do you want to be remembered?

Why We Are Conscious

By Ezequiel Morsella Ph.D. on December 07, 2017 in Consciousness and the Brain

Why are we conscious creatures instead of unconscious ones?

A Solution to The Biggest Mystery You've Learned to Ignore

By Jeremy E Sherman Ph.D. on November 22, 2017 in Ambigamy

You've probably never thought to ask even though it's the question behind all your big questions: What is trying and how did it start?

Wild, Fun-loving, and Free

By William L. Mace Ph.D. on November 14, 2017 in Campus Confidential: Coping with College

Childhood anxiety is largely learned, not innate. If we can teach our children to be anxious, it means we can teach them not to be anxious.

Brain Fields, Complexity, and Consciousness

By Paul L. Nunez PhD on November 12, 2017 in The New Science of Consciousness

Complexity science provides a means to measure consciousness in coma and semi-conscious patients.

The Myth of the Self-Made Individual

By Thomas Henricks Ph.D. on November 12, 2017 in The Pathways of Experience

We should be wary of those who claim to be self-made, who tout themselves as the emblems of accomplishment. These prominent people simply disregard the support they’ve had.

Five Ways to Help You Find Your Passion

By Barton Goldsmith Ph.D. on November 11, 2017 in Emotional Fitness

The important thing is to know that there is more of life you can fall in love with. Just give yourself a chance.

Guns, Drugs and Mental Health: Crises Everywhere

By Dorothy Firman Ed.D. LMHC, BCC on November 07, 2017 in Living a Life of Purpose

Life is hard and cries abound. What if each of us chose to become a better person?

How to Make Life Better: 12 Things to Do Today

By Gina Barreca Ph.D. on November 06, 2017 in Snow White Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Forget those articles in Cosmopolitan asking, "What Do Men Want in Bed?" The answer is simple: They want sex and a sandwich. Maybe pizza.

Causal Networks of the Brain in Depression

By Grant Hilary Brenner M.D. on October 30, 2017 in ExperiMentations

Advances in computational techniques move neuroscience forward by mapping out causality within functional brain networks.

Optimism Challenge Conclusion

By David Dillard-Wright Ph.D. on October 23, 2017 in Boundless

Optimism enables the belief that life is worth living.

To Forgive or Not to Forgive

By Alex Pattakos Ph.D. on October 19, 2017 in The Meaningful Life

If you don’t learn from unavoidable suffering, then your life becomes meaningless.

Consciousness: How a Squishy Brain Connects to Make You, You

By Marc Bekoff Ph.D. on October 15, 2017 in Animal Emotions

How do 90 billion neurons interconnect to produce a wide variety of experiences? Your Conscious Mind, a new book for a general audience, covers what we know about consciousness.

Neither Free Will Nor Determinism

By Jeremy E Sherman Ph.D. on October 10, 2017 in Ambigamy

We haven't resolved the free-will debate because we don't know what will is. Here's an explanation from will's origins in chemistry with intuitive implications for your own life.

Knowing Just Enough to Be Dangerous

By Gleb Tsipursky Ph.D. on October 07, 2017 in Intentional Insights

Can too much confidence be a bad thing?

Lifting the Fog of Fear

By Alex Pattakos Ph.D. on October 02, 2017 in The Meaningful Life

The film of your life is still being shot.

Who's in Charge, Your Mind or Your Brain?

By David Ropeik on September 27, 2017 in How Risky Is It, Really?

Do we consciously think for ourselves, or does our brain subconsciously do our thinking for us? A fun test with a famous intellectual raised, but failed to answer, the question.

The figure is in the public domain according to http://clipartist.net.

Why Is There Evil?

By Paul Thagard Ph.D. on September 21, 2017 in Hot Thought

People’s brains are equipped for caring and empathy, so why do people often hurt each other? Evil is like disease, resulting from malfunctions in mechanisms.