S02E04 - Do We Really Have Free Will? Exploring the Concept and What's Often Overlooked

The Unlearning Playground

The question of whether we have free will is a longstanding and complex debate in philosophy, neuroscience, and psychology. The internet is full of amazingly detailed and intriguing content talking about this concept in much detail. In today's episode, I wanted to talk about two extremely crucial concepts that I think are often overlooked in most debates and discussions around this subject. Join me, Chetan Narang, as I dive deep into the concept of free will. I am sure that by the end of this episode of The Unlearning Playground Podcast, you would be well equipped to understand what is mostly missing in the various perspectives of this question from philosophy, neuroscience, psychology & theology. You will also be able to digest the classic debates between determinism, libertarian free will & compatibilism better. Whether you have or haven't listened to big names like Sam Harris, Andrew Huberman, Robert Sapolsky or Jordan Peterson, my hope is that you would find this episode to be the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle of the ever evasive question - Is Free Will an illusion? As I uncover what is often missing in most debates and discussions about free will - whether among philosophers, scientists, or laypeople, you would see that we actually need to go beyond the surface arguments to explore the real nuance of this question.
Let's meet in the playground then.

Until next time. Peace out.

#freewill #philosophy #neuroscience #psychology #theology #determinism #spiritualteacher #spiritualawakening -------------- All links that I touched upon in this episode: Sam Harris's book on Free Will - https://amzn.to/3KaiCtF My episode on The Purpose of Life - https://chetannarang.org/the-purpose-of-life/ -------------- ==== Outline ==== (00:00) - Intro to today's episode (00:58) - Intro to the concept of Free Will (02:20) - My PERSONAL experience with the question (04:01) - How this question is USUALLY addressed on the Internet (08:37) - What is MISSING from almost ALL videos on Free Will (20:24) - Self Awareness - The MISSING variable in the Free Will equation (30:16) - Summary & Concluding Thoughts --------------