Book Review: Determined

Book: Determined – Robert Sapolsky
Topic: Free Will or lack thereof
Worth the Read: Not to me
Take aways: I’ve read a couple of Sapolsky’s other books and at the recommendation of my buddy who’s a clinical ethicist thought this would be interesting. The premise is that there is unlikely to be freewill. The general takeaway is to not blame people as much for their actions. The books format is in supporting information, conclusion, counter arguments, and take aways.

My negative bias in reading this book is by focusing on fixed or uncontrollable variables it’s not helpful in stimulating change in individuals. There was a fair amount of his political bias thrown in the book and it’s not hard to determine where he stands on things. Thomas Sowell talks about people arguing on topics that are outside of their scope of knowledge, and I felt as though this was an example of that. Meaning – I’m uncertain that being an expert in neuroendocrinology means you should be providing information on public policy.

My bias should also be clear – I think I’m on a different end of the political spectrum. As such, I was more critical of this book than I should have been. The take away that there are a lot of variables that influence an individuals decision making. So much so that there is likely limited human ability to truly have free will. My perspective is that we do have limited control, and that limited control amplified by time can lead to remarkable changes.