Neuroscience of Decision Making

Scientists looked at people's brains and found something super cool and a little spooky. Your brain actually starts getting ready to move your hand a tiny bit before you even decide to move it! It is like your brain is a fast computer that finishes the job before you press the Enter button. This makes us wonder if our will is like a captain who thinks he is steering a ship that is actually on autopilot. Even so, your brain is still you, just working very fast behind the scenes.

Your brain is faster than your story about your brain. You are not the narrator. You are the whole orchestra.

Modern neuroscience uses fMRI and EEG to track readiness potentials preceding conscious awareness. Suggests the self is a narrative construct generated post-hoc to explain deterministic neural activity. Challenges the Cartesian I and replaces it with a distributed processing network. We are not just the observer but the entire biological process.

SOUND: The crackle of static electricity.

SMELL: The sharp scent of ozone after a lightning strike.

TASTE: The zing of electricity: instant and involuntary.

TOUCH: Pins and needles when your foot wakes up.

SIGHT: Rapid flashes of light in a dark room.

BODY: Muscle memory when you ride a bike: your body decided before your mind caught up.

Music: Hourglass by Lifehouse

Music: Learning to Fly by Pink Floyd

Part of Free Will & Fate — PHILOSOPHY — Education Revelation