Now really.

Now really.

Really now, really hell, and welcome to really no really with Jason Alexander and Peter Tilden, who ask you.

Really now, really hell, and welcome to really no really with Jason Alexander and Peter Tilden, who ask you.

To make a great choice and please subscribe.

To make a great choice and please subscribe.

That said, the right choice, or any choice, for that matter, may not be yours to freely make. Stanford biologist and neuroscientist doctor Robert Sepalski has rankled the scientific and philosophic communities by arguing one simple point, there is no free will, and human beings only think we're making our own decisions.

That said, the right choice, or any choice, for that matter, may not be yours to freely make. Stanford biologist and neuroscientist doctor Robert Sepalski has rankled the scientific and philosophic communities by arguing one simple point, there is no free will, and human beings only think we're making our own decisions.

Really no really. When Jason and.

Really no really. When Jason and.

Peter heard this, they realized they had absolutely no choice but to contact doctor Sepalski so they could get him to explain his thesis in a simplistic way that maybe even they could understand, and surprisingly he did.

Peter heard this, they realized they had absolutely no choice but to contact doctor Sepalski so they could get him to explain his thesis in a simplistic way that maybe even they could understand, and surprisingly he did.

There it is.

There it is.

Fun recording under an airport. It's really fun.

Fun recording under an airport. It's really fun.

I can now we identify with the I can assess that from a G for four engines supposed to t oh, that plane is going on a.

I can now we identify with the I can assess that from a G for four engines supposed to t oh, that plane is going on a.

Little bit of Toulent. Don't you don't say that? In today's world, I had no choice. See look at that for a segue.

Little bit of Toulent. Don't you don't say that? In today's world, I had no choice. See look at that for a segue.

Look, today's episode is about you hit me. You hitting me a lot choice. We have a professor on big article, big book, doctor Robert Sapolski, major guy, big guy who says, we have no free will, and beings have no free will.

Look, today's episode is about you hit me. You hitting me a lot choice. We have a professor on big article, big book, doctor Robert Sapolski, major guy, big guy who says, we have no free will, and beings have no free will.

It's an illusion illusion. So we said, really and do it like Doug Henning.

It's an illusion illusion. So we said, really and do it like Doug Henning.

No.

No.

I wish you could remember Doug Henning. But he he made himself disappear many years ago.

I wish you could remember Doug Henning. But he he made himself disappear many years ago.

He died tragically and young. He had a very serious cancer and he died.

He died tragically and young. He had a very serious cancer and he died.

He was a lovely and as big as a huge, huge as magician.

He was a lovely and as big as a huge, huge as magician.

But he was kind of like doing the hip. He was the hippie era. TI died in Canadian and oh, okay.

But he was kind of like doing the hip. He was the hippie era. TI died in Canadian and oh, okay.

So if it's okay with everybody, I'm disappearing. He he cared about the audience. But this the free will issue. It's a bit heavy for us.

So if it's okay with everybody, I'm disappearing. He he cared about the audience. But this the free will issue. It's a bit heavy for us.

If you've listened to the show and understand, listen, you sent me a ton of research on this, and my eyes rolled up in my head.

If you've listened to the show and understand, listen, you sent me a ton of research on this, and my eyes rolled up in my head.

I started, you know, and I do have free will. I'm not reading this.

I started, you know, and I do have free will. I'm not reading this.

I started prepping and after reading seventeen pages, I said, I don't understand anything that spread determinism, yeah versus antideterminism.

I started prepping and after reading seventeen pages, I said, I don't understand anything that spread determinism, yeah versus antideterminism.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So when he comes on, what we got to say is imagine that you're looking at toddlers who're basically just learning the language, and explain it that way, because from millennia people have been arguing, the greatest thinkers of the world have been arguing whether we have free will if youre not right, or no free will? The danger there is if we admit that we don't have any free will. The ramifications are huge.

So when he comes on, what we got to say is imagine that you're looking at toddlers who're basically just learning the language, and explain it that way, because from millennia people have been arguing, the greatest thinkers of the world have been arguing whether we have free will if youre not right, or no free will? The danger there is if we admit that we don't have any free will. The ramifications are huge.

Apparently the government doesn't tell us that aliens are amongst us because they don't think. They think they'll be global chaos. We won't be able to it. We can and they will just be You know that hails in comparison if you say to the world, hey, human beings have no choice.

Apparently the government doesn't tell us that aliens are amongst us because they don't think. They think they'll be global chaos. We won't be able to it. We can and they will just be You know that hails in comparison if you say to the world, hey, human beings have no choice.

We do what we do. We have there's no we can have no say. Here's the answer to that. Here's what happens.

We do what we do. We have there's no we can have no say. Here's the answer to that. Here's what happens.

Then I shot a guy, So say to me, guy, you shot a guy.

Then I shot a guy, So say to me, guy, you shot a guy.

No free will, no will? That's right. So let's talk to this guy.

No free will, no will? That's right. So let's talk to this guy.

Doctor Robert Mars Sapolski has joined us, and I'm thrilled to have him.

Doctor Robert Mars Sapolski has joined us, and I'm thrilled to have him.

How are you, sir?

How are you, sir?

Thank you, thanks for having me on.

Thank you, thanks for having me on.

Delighted.

Delighted.

It's fascinating when we heard about your book and your take on free will and.

It's fascinating when we heard about your book and your take on free will and.

Just tell the audience the man's credits for a second.

Just tell the audience the man's credits for a second.

So so we know who we're dealing. Well, I understand you're jumping. You have no choice in this. I understand. I understand.

So so we know who we're dealing. Well, I understand you're jumping. You have no choice in this. I understand. I understand.

Don't touch me. My my thing would be all right.

Don't touch me. My my thing would be all right.

So at the fast Professor Biology, Neurology, Neurological Sciences, Surgery, neuth surgery at Stanford University, an addition or research associate at the Nash Museums in Kenya, and you spend part of your year talking about free will, and you spend part of the year with baboons. And my favorite thing this is that part of the year is that part of them. And my favorite thing is your quote was like their human cousins, Baboons live in large, complex social groups and have lots of time to devote to being rotten to each other, just like humans. So what kind of person is it? Touched does what you do which is so heady and then says, you know what to the wife and kids, I'm going to Kenya. I'm going to live with baboons in the tent for a little bite. See in a couple of months. What is that all about?

So at the fast Professor Biology, Neurology, Neurological Sciences, Surgery, neuth surgery at Stanford University, an addition or research associate at the Nash Museums in Kenya, and you spend part of your year talking about free will, and you spend part of the year with baboons. And my favorite thing this is that part of the year is that part of them. And my favorite thing is your quote was like their human cousins, Baboons live in large, complex social groups and have lots of time to devote to being rotten to each other, just like humans. So what kind of person is it? Touched does what you do which is so heady and then says, you know what to the wife and kids, I'm going to Kenya. I'm going to live with baboons in the tent for a little bite. See in a couple of months. What is that all about?

The critical thing is that for Eich of those seasons, I didn't say to the wife Sea we went together. She research. Yeah, No, I've spent forever kind of straddling two businesses, being a brain scientist and being a primatologist. For thirty three years. Would spend nine months a year in the lab doing stuff to neurons and sticking jeans and them things like that, and then three months a year hanging out with baboons in the sad getty and going back to the same baboons each year, which is pretty heavenly.

The critical thing is that for Eich of those seasons, I didn't say to the wife Sea we went together. She research. Yeah, No, I've spent forever kind of straddling two businesses, being a brain scientist and being a primatologist. For thirty three years. Would spend nine months a year in the lab doing stuff to neurons and sticking jeans and them things like that, and then three months a year hanging out with baboons in the sad getty and going back to the same baboons each year, which is pretty heavenly.

And we should say the reason you do that is because they are so similar to humans in the study kind of intersected what you're doing with your brain science. So let's start with that because it's heady and talk to us as if we're toddlers.

And we should say the reason you do that is because they are so similar to humans in the study kind of intersected what you're doing with your brain science. So let's start with that because it's heady and talk to us as if we're toddlers.

Just going to say I preface this Robert by saying Peter was lovely. He sent me twenty three links to your work and about fifty pages of things you've written, things you've said, things you've dealt with, and.

Just going to say I preface this Robert by saying Peter was lovely. He sent me twenty three links to your work and about fifty pages of things you've written, things you've said, things you've dealt with, and.

I understood nothing. Well, it's why.

I understood nothing. Well, it's why.

It's hard, and it's heady, and it's confusing, and it's complicated in the sense for a layman you look and free will has been argued for what millennia, okay by some of the great thinkers of our time.

It's hard, and it's heady, and it's confusing, and it's complicated in the sense for a layman you look and free will has been argued for what millennia, okay by some of the great thinkers of our time.

And what that does the human beings to say? And where you negate morality and it's in consequence?

And what that does the human beings to say? And where you negate morality and it's in consequence?

Yeah right, So yeah, that's why I wanted to talk to you about because it is it's a it's a big petty subject. It involves criminal justice, it involves brain chemistry, I mean dopamine and serotonin. So when you say there's no free will, what does what does that mean? First of all, give everybody the context of what does that mean? Even how you, how you why you went into that conclusion, Just.

Yeah right, So yeah, that's why I wanted to talk to you about because it is it's a it's a big petty subject. It involves criminal justice, it involves brain chemistry, I mean dopamine and serotonin. So when you say there's no free will, what does what does that mean? First of all, give everybody the context of what does that mean? Even how you, how you why you went into that conclusion, Just.

To orient I'm officially in the lunatic fringe of people who think about this sort of thing, and that you know, lots of people who study the brain and biology and behavioral of that conclude this all sorts of domains where we have much less agency. I'm out there at the extreme with a handful of other people saying I don't think there's any free will whatsoever. And I've actually thought this way since I was fourteen. I had a very revelatory night where it all suddenly hit me with great clarity, and this is how I've been thinking ever since. And sort of where I get at it is, you know, I'm a scientist. I study how the brain works, how behavior works, that sort of thing, and when you look at it in enough detail, there's no free will. And the trouble with it, like ninety nine percent of people immediately disagree with that, and like ninety five percent of philosophers to is they get completely gummed up on the wrong notion of what free will is, oh, which is you're sitting there and you're making a choice. You're making a choice. Do you want to do this or do you want to do that? Do you want to press this button or that one? Do you want to like pull a trigger? Do you want to like tell somebody you like the dinner they made. You're making a choice, you have an intention to do that, and most importantly, you know you don't have to do it. There's alternatives available to you. You don't have told the trigger. You can order vanilla ice cream instead of a rocky Road. You can tell the host that the meal is appalling instead of saying it's wonderful. And this feels like free will because you have intent and you act on it, and you know you didn't have to do that. And for people, in most cases and for the whole criminal justice system, right, this is necessary insufficient. This is free will. And where I come in is that it is completely irrelevant to anything having to do with free will, because asking okay, did the person intend to do it? Did they know they didn't have to, they knew they were turning this all of that, What that's doing is asking somebody to review a book and all they get to do is read the last sentence of it, because you've missed everything that's come before. And when you look at somebody who's formed this intent to order this kind of ice cream, or to press the button and nuke somebody or not, or any of these moments of intent, what you're not doing is asking the only possible question, which is, so, how do you turn out to be the sort of person who would have that intent? How'd you wind up in this moment? What went on a second ago and in a minute ago, and an hour ago, in fifty decades ago that made you this person at this moment with.

To orient I'm officially in the lunatic fringe of people who think about this sort of thing, and that you know, lots of people who study the brain and biology and behavioral of that conclude this all sorts of domains where we have much less agency. I'm out there at the extreme with a handful of other people saying I don't think there's any free will whatsoever. And I've actually thought this way since I was fourteen. I had a very revelatory night where it all suddenly hit me with great clarity, and this is how I've been thinking ever since. And sort of where I get at it is, you know, I'm a scientist. I study how the brain works, how behavior works, that sort of thing, and when you look at it in enough detail, there's no free will. And the trouble with it, like ninety nine percent of people immediately disagree with that, and like ninety five percent of philosophers to is they get completely gummed up on the wrong notion of what free will is, oh, which is you're sitting there and you're making a choice. You're making a choice. Do you want to do this or do you want to do that? Do you want to press this button or that one? Do you want to like pull a trigger? Do you want to like tell somebody you like the dinner they made. You're making a choice, you have an intention to do that, and most importantly, you know you don't have to do it. There's alternatives available to you. You don't have told the trigger. You can order vanilla ice cream instead of a rocky Road. You can tell the host that the meal is appalling instead of saying it's wonderful. And this feels like free will because you have intent and you act on it, and you know you didn't have to do that. And for people, in most cases and for the whole criminal justice system, right, this is necessary insufficient. This is free will. And where I come in is that it is completely irrelevant to anything having to do with free will, because asking okay, did the person intend to do it? Did they know they didn't have to, they knew they were turning this all of that, What that's doing is asking somebody to review a book and all they get to do is read the last sentence of it, because you've missed everything that's come before. And when you look at somebody who's formed this intent to order this kind of ice cream, or to press the button and nuke somebody or not, or any of these moments of intent, what you're not doing is asking the only possible question, which is, so, how do you turn out to be the sort of person who would have that intent? How'd you wind up in this moment? What went on a second ago and in a minute ago, and an hour ago, in fifty decades ago that made you this person at this moment with.

This intent and not just intent on like this very narrow level of oh I now am going to intent to tell this muscle to press this button?

This intent and not just intent on like this very narrow level of oh I now am going to intent to tell this muscle to press this button?

Or whatever. How'd you wind up being somebody who could show up for a psychology experiment where they say push this button? How do you wind up in a university where'd you get an interest in psychology? How do you wind up being someone who would volunteer for a study? Where'd you learn to read and write? How come you didn't die from Ricketts when you were six because you picked the wrong continent to be born on. Why didn't you wind up being the sort of person where you walk in there and you see they're testing the previous student volunteer and they're all busy with them, so you steal the grand student's laptop and run out. How do you wind up being the sort of person where instead you're now sitting here and they say push the button. Whenever you feel an intent? How'd that happen? And it doesn't matter what intent you have at that moment and that you acted upon it and you knew that had alternatives, because how do you become the person who had that intent? Because you could not have intended anything other than what you intent From the moment you were fertilized egg, all of that was turning into oh you are at this moment and you had no control over it, and that's where there's no free will.

Or whatever. How'd you wind up being somebody who could show up for a psychology experiment where they say push this button? How do you wind up in a university where'd you get an interest in psychology? How do you wind up being someone who would volunteer for a study? Where'd you learn to read and write? How come you didn't die from Ricketts when you were six because you picked the wrong continent to be born on. Why didn't you wind up being the sort of person where you walk in there and you see they're testing the previous student volunteer and they're all busy with them, so you steal the grand student's laptop and run out. How do you wind up being the sort of person where instead you're now sitting here and they say push the button. Whenever you feel an intent? How'd that happen? And it doesn't matter what intent you have at that moment and that you acted upon it and you knew that had alternatives, because how do you become the person who had that intent? Because you could not have intended anything other than what you intent From the moment you were fertilized egg, all of that was turning into oh you are at this moment and you had no control over it, and that's where there's no free will.

Nich Okay, wow.

Nich Okay, wow.

So now that I first of all, I kind of just gotta be good because I followed that.

So now that I first of all, I kind of just gotta be good because I followed that.

So did I. But I have questions. But I have questions about following you too, I do too.

So did I. But I have questions. But I have questions about following you too, I do too.

But I guess my first question is does any of that matter in the moment if I, if I choose or don't I know that this bell irritates Peter if I choose to ring it, no matter what all the millennia of input that brought me, whoever I am, to this point to make that choice. The fact of the matter is I have made this choice at this moment, and is part of your thinking, inclusive of the idea that it doesn't matter why I did it because I had no choice and therefore there should be no consequence or judgment to me doing it.

But I guess my first question is does any of that matter in the moment if I, if I choose or don't I know that this bell irritates Peter if I choose to ring it, no matter what all the millennia of input that brought me, whoever I am, to this point to make that choice. The fact of the matter is I have made this choice at this moment, and is part of your thinking, inclusive of the idea that it doesn't matter why I did it because I had no choice and therefore there should be no consequence or judgment to me doing it.

Well, there should be consequences, sort of the mechanical sense, Like if I were Peter, it would be totally morally appropriate to lunge across the table and grab your arm and say I will thraddle you if you do that once more, and thus try to intervene with you or behaveor and constrain it. But in sort of moralizing sense, it makes no sense at all if you really truly believe there's no free will. It makes no sense at all to ever blame or punish anyone for anything. And it makes no sense to ever praise or reward anyone for anything. And it makes no sense to feel like you've earned anything, you're entitled to anything. And it makes his little sense to like hate somebody for what they did is to like hate an earthquake or something, because none of us had any control as to how we turned out to be the sort of person who would do what we just did.

Well, there should be consequences, sort of the mechanical sense, Like if I were Peter, it would be totally morally appropriate to lunge across the table and grab your arm and say I will thraddle you if you do that once more, and thus try to intervene with you or behaveor and constrain it. But in sort of moralizing sense, it makes no sense at all if you really truly believe there's no free will. It makes no sense at all to ever blame or punish anyone for anything. And it makes no sense to ever praise or reward anyone for anything. And it makes no sense to feel like you've earned anything, you're entitled to anything. And it makes his little sense to like hate somebody for what they did is to like hate an earthquake or something, because none of us had any control as to how we turned out to be the sort of person who would do what we just did.

So his daughter is in the house, by the way, we have to talk to his daughter.

So his daughter is in the house, by the way, we have to talk to his daughter.

We have who walks the walk and talks to talk.

We have who walks the walk and talks to talk.

I don't want to get that's so heady that people don't get it. But it's nature nurture. If your parents it's a mentors everything that happens to you, it doesn't matter, it's all still in that bundle on. How are you going to end up reacting to this thing? Is that kind of accurate?

I don't want to get that's so heady that people don't get it. But it's nature nurture. If your parents it's a mentors everything that happens to you, it doesn't matter, it's all still in that bundle on. How are you going to end up reacting to this thing? Is that kind of accurate?

Yes?

Yes?

Okay, that's that's exactly it. And take somebody, sit them down, have him fill out a questionnaire about their sort of political views, their social politics. They're economic, there, geopolitical, all of that have them sit down in the room that smells rotten garbage, and on the average people become more politically conservative. These are not big effects. You can't disprove free will by making a room smell of rotten garbage. But like, that's one piece of the story. Second piece your fetus. Your fetus, and your mother is stressed while you are in her womb. She's like homeless, she's a refugee, she's a who knows what, and she secretes elevated levels of stress hormones and as a result, they or your brain in those stress hormones and you as a fetus, and as a result, when you were an adult, you've got about a twentyfold increased likelihood of an anxiety disorder or a depression or like. Third domain, here's this one. What were your ancestors up to five hundred years ago? What kind of cultures were they constructing, and what kind of ecosystem were they living in, Because that influenced what kind of culture they came up with. If your ancestors were hunter gatherers, you were much more likely to believe in polytheistic gods. If they were desert dwellers with camels and goats, you're more likely you've turned out to be monotheistic. If your ancestors were farmers and it's hard for people to come at night and steal all your crops, you wind up with a different culture than if they were herdsmen, where some varmint could show up and rustle your cattle, and your ancestors would have invented a culture of honor where if somebody crosses you, you stay them ten times worse, or else they're going to disrespect you. And that explains a huge amount of patterns of crime in the United States between the South and the Northeast because of who settled there, like crazy ass Northern Ireland, Northern Scottish herdsman settled the South and developed a culture of honor. And you could do a psych experiment now with kids who come from Mississippi versus kids who come from like Andover or something, and they show up and on the average they will have different indocurrent responses to somebody who disses them. As part of the experiment, who bumps into them in the hallway intentionally, It says, watch a jerk, because you got raised in the culture that your mother was raised and that her mother was raised in, going all the way like, so that has something to do with it. And what was happening when you were a fetus, and what the smell is in the room, and what color you're underwear are this morning, and if they fit right or not, and what the socioeconomic status was in your neighborhood and everything in between. And you put all those pieces together and there's not a crack anywhere in there in which you could shoehorn this notion of free will.

Okay, that's that's exactly it. And take somebody, sit them down, have him fill out a questionnaire about their sort of political views, their social politics. They're economic, there, geopolitical, all of that have them sit down in the room that smells rotten garbage, and on the average people become more politically conservative. These are not big effects. You can't disprove free will by making a room smell of rotten garbage. But like, that's one piece of the story. Second piece your fetus. Your fetus, and your mother is stressed while you are in her womb. She's like homeless, she's a refugee, she's a who knows what, and she secretes elevated levels of stress hormones and as a result, they or your brain in those stress hormones and you as a fetus, and as a result, when you were an adult, you've got about a twentyfold increased likelihood of an anxiety disorder or a depression or like. Third domain, here's this one. What were your ancestors up to five hundred years ago? What kind of cultures were they constructing, and what kind of ecosystem were they living in, Because that influenced what kind of culture they came up with. If your ancestors were hunter gatherers, you were much more likely to believe in polytheistic gods. If they were desert dwellers with camels and goats, you're more likely you've turned out to be monotheistic. If your ancestors were farmers and it's hard for people to come at night and steal all your crops, you wind up with a different culture than if they were herdsmen, where some varmint could show up and rustle your cattle, and your ancestors would have invented a culture of honor where if somebody crosses you, you stay them ten times worse, or else they're going to disrespect you. And that explains a huge amount of patterns of crime in the United States between the South and the Northeast because of who settled there, like crazy ass Northern Ireland, Northern Scottish herdsman settled the South and developed a culture of honor. And you could do a psych experiment now with kids who come from Mississippi versus kids who come from like Andover or something, and they show up and on the average they will have different indocurrent responses to somebody who disses them. As part of the experiment, who bumps into them in the hallway intentionally, It says, watch a jerk, because you got raised in the culture that your mother was raised and that her mother was raised in, going all the way like, so that has something to do with it. And what was happening when you were a fetus, and what the smell is in the room, and what color you're underwear are this morning, and if they fit right or not, and what the socioeconomic status was in your neighborhood and everything in between. And you put all those pieces together and there's not a crack anywhere in there in which you could shoehorn this notion of free will.

So are we approaching minority report where someone can feed into this computer all of that stuff and predict that you're going to commit a crime. That's predictive crime, predictive outrage, predictive, this, predictive that behavior. Yeah, So are we approaching minority report where someone can feed into this computer all of that stuff and predict that you're going to commit a crime.

So are we approaching minority report where someone can feed into this computer all of that stuff and predict that you're going to commit a crime. That's predictive crime, predictive outrage, predictive, this, predictive that behavior. Yeah, So are we approaching minority report where someone can feed into this computer all of that stuff and predict that you're going to commit a crime.

That's predictive crime, predictive outrage, predictive, this, predictive that behavior.

That's predictive crime, predictive outrage, predictive, this, predictive that behavior.

Yeah. Well, we're not very good at it yet, but we're willing to run some aspects of society based on it. We are willing to constrain the behavior of people who've done nothing because we know they are going to be dangerous. We are willing to run society that way. Your kid has a nose cold, and you keep them home from kindergarten tomorrow because they have a pre crime minority report and rule which is pleased. If your kid has a nose cold, keep them home from school so they don't get everybody else sick. Your kid doesn't have to go in and get everybody else sick. You can have this pre crime move of saying, please keep your child at home so they don't get everybody else sick, and you could intervene based on predicting the outcome, and we can protect society from a dangerous individual, your sneezy kid without invoking free will. They don't have a rotten soul for having done that, despite the fact that the times in the past people would have thought.

Yeah. Well, we're not very good at it yet, but we're willing to run some aspects of society based on it. We are willing to constrain the behavior of people who've done nothing because we know they are going to be dangerous. We are willing to run society that way. Your kid has a nose cold, and you keep them home from kindergarten tomorrow because they have a pre crime minority report and rule which is pleased. If your kid has a nose cold, keep them home from school so they don't get everybody else sick. Your kid doesn't have to go in and get everybody else sick. You can have this pre crime move of saying, please keep your child at home so they don't get everybody else sick, and you could intervene based on predicting the outcome, and we can protect society from a dangerous individual, your sneezy kid without invoking free will. They don't have a rotten soul for having done that, despite the fact that the times in the past people would have thought.

That taking what you're saying verbatim is that you gave an I think I'm going to attribute it to you where you said, you know, we used to believe epilepsy was a demonic possession, and then we understood it medically, and we treated it medically and we've had great success with it.

That taking what you're saying verbatim is that you gave an I think I'm going to attribute it to you where you said, you know, we used to believe epilepsy was a demonic possession, and then we understood it medically, and we treated it medically and we've had great success with it.

We understand it differently.

We understand it differently.

Is anyone working on correcting what we think of as aberrant or destructive behaviors based on these theories of it being a cacatenation of environment and background and exposure and all and you know, oh cool word.

Is anyone working on correcting what we think of as aberrant or destructive behaviors based on these theories of it being a cacatenation of environment and background and exposure and all and you know, oh cool word.

Yeah. Every time somebody tries to figure out, like, does Parkinson's disease have a genetic component? Does it have an environmental component? Where every time, even more pertinent to suit of all this thinking, they figure out there's a subset of people with Parkinson's who when they take their meds that replace dopamine and do it in a certain way, there's a subset of them where they then become compulsive gamblers and compulsive risk takers because something screwy is also happening with dopamine in another part of the brain. Oh my god, they gambled away their life saves a bit.

Yeah. Every time somebody tries to figure out, like, does Parkinson's disease have a genetic component? Does it have an environmental component? Where every time, even more pertinent to suit of all this thinking, they figure out there's a subset of people with Parkinson's who when they take their meds that replace dopamine and do it in a certain way, there's a subset of them where they then become compulsive gamblers and compulsive risk takers because something screwy is also happening with dopamine in another part of the brain. Oh my god, they gambled away their life saves a bit.

No, it's like this medicaid in about fifteen percent of people who have this version of this gene but don't have that version of that gene or what dopa meane, this drug also does this to this part of the brain, and they have a problem with compulsive gambling. Okay, we can kind of figure that one out.

No, it's like this medicaid in about fifteen percent of people who have this version of this gene but don't have that version of that gene or what dopa meane, this drug also does this to this part of the brain, and they have a problem with compulsive gambling. Okay, we can kind of figure that one out.

I get it. Let's have some really like complicated like neurochemistry. Now it's much harder for us to figure out, Oh, because of this kind of instability at home when they were a kid, and those cultural values in this mixture of genes that they had, and the time they got the concussion when they were eleven, or that's why they turned out to be a compulsive gambler. It's a lot harder to figure that one out. Like somebody gets like a big chunk of their brain blown out and they have trouble regulating their behavior. You see it, there's this cable of causality and lack of free will that has produced this person whose behavior is unregulated. It is so much harder, though, to see that there's one hundred gazillion little spider webs of causality from culture and fetal life and what your third grade teacher said to you, and what happened that time, and what do you have for whether you have gas this morning or not at all, to realize that all those gazillion spider webs put together form as thick of a cable of causality, as like the easy cases, oh, brain damage.

I get it. Let's have some really like complicated like neurochemistry. Now it's much harder for us to figure out, Oh, because of this kind of instability at home when they were a kid, and those cultural values in this mixture of genes that they had, and the time they got the concussion when they were eleven, or that's why they turned out to be a compulsive gambler. It's a lot harder to figure that one out. Like somebody gets like a big chunk of their brain blown out and they have trouble regulating their behavior. You see it, there's this cable of causality and lack of free will that has produced this person whose behavior is unregulated. It is so much harder, though, to see that there's one hundred gazillion little spider webs of causality from culture and fetal life and what your third grade teacher said to you, and what happened that time, and what do you have for whether you have gas this morning or not at all, to realize that all those gazillion spider webs put together form as thick of a cable of causality, as like the easy cases, oh, brain damage.

On a scale of one to ten, how much pushback you get you get from your community people who study.

On a scale of one to ten, how much pushback you get you get from your community people who study.

Brain oh, about eleven goes all the way up to eleven on that one. Most of the philosophers have like come at me with philosophical like sharpened knives and stuff, So they haven't been happy. All sorts of people, like all of us, don't really cotton that much to the idea that there's no free will because it's like potentially depressing as well.

Brain oh, about eleven goes all the way up to eleven on that one. Most of the philosophers have like come at me with philosophical like sharpened knives and stuff, So they haven't been happy. All sorts of people, like all of us, don't really cotton that much to the idea that there's no free will because it's like potentially depressing as well.

No choices we make aren't our choices that they're predetermined. It is a hard thing to swallow, and even if you couch it in the way that you did where you're saying, no, it's not that you're limiting your choices. It's just look at who you are and why you made those choices, rather than you're not making those choices. You are making those choices, but they're predicated on a whole lot of other crap that maybe you're not taking into consideration. I mean, is that as simplistically as I can put.

No choices we make aren't our choices that they're predetermined. It is a hard thing to swallow, and even if you couch it in the way that you did where you're saying, no, it's not that you're limiting your choices. It's just look at who you are and why you made those choices, rather than you're not making those choices. You are making those choices, but they're predicated on a whole lot of other crap that maybe you're not taking into consideration. I mean, is that as simplistically as I can put.

It, that's perfect. That could be like the banner for the whole Yeah, exactly. It's a bummer, but it's kind of how we turned out. But for me, the most important thing, like this, this book of mine, I've been flogging about how there's no free will. Like, the first half is, there's no free will, there's no free will. The second half is, oh my god, what if people actually started believing there's no free will? What's going to happen then? And a lot of the book of that section is people are not going to run amock. We can fix that. We're not going to have murderers running around on the streets. We can fix that. We're not going to have incompetent people taking out your teeth and the dentist. No, we could fix that as well. It's possible for things to change all of that. But then you get to the but oh, this is such a bummer, This is so demoralizing. What do you do with the existential despair computed? And what I've gotten to is, if you're bummed out by the notion that there's no free will, and maybe you really didn't earn your corner office or your fancy degree or with if you're bummed out by that, by definition, you're one of the lucky humans. Because for most people out there, what people believing in free will when there isn't means it's okay with society that you're treated way worse an average for reasons you had no control over. Like if you're bummed out by this, it means you've had the luxury to be treated better than average for reasons you have no control over. But for most of earth, for most people, the notion that like, actually, no, you have no control over that is incredibly liberating. It's really good we don't burn old ladies at the stake anymore, and for believers, they had control over the weather.

It, that's perfect. That could be like the banner for the whole Yeah, exactly. It's a bummer, but it's kind of how we turned out. But for me, the most important thing, like this, this book of mine, I've been flogging about how there's no free will. Like, the first half is, there's no free will, there's no free will. The second half is, oh my god, what if people actually started believing there's no free will? What's going to happen then? And a lot of the book of that section is people are not going to run amock. We can fix that. We're not going to have murderers running around on the streets. We can fix that. We're not going to have incompetent people taking out your teeth and the dentist. No, we could fix that as well. It's possible for things to change all of that. But then you get to the but oh, this is such a bummer, This is so demoralizing. What do you do with the existential despair computed? And what I've gotten to is, if you're bummed out by the notion that there's no free will, and maybe you really didn't earn your corner office or your fancy degree or with if you're bummed out by that, by definition, you're one of the lucky humans. Because for most people out there, what people believing in free will when there isn't means it's okay with society that you're treated way worse an average for reasons you had no control over. Like if you're bummed out by this, it means you've had the luxury to be treated better than average for reasons you have no control over. But for most of earth, for most people, the notion that like, actually, no, you have no control over that is incredibly liberating. It's really good we don't burn old ladies at the stake anymore, and for believers, they had control over the weather.

But it also it gives you license to say I'm a victim too.

But it also it gives you license to say I'm a victim too.

It does, but you're as much a victim of any It makes the word victim even irrelevant after a while, and makes words like forgiveness irrelevant. All it is is who we are. It's like okay to pat people on the head and use reward and punishment as purely instrumental tools, because they could be very effective in some settings, but they're not virtues, and they're not they can't be in and of themselves, And the world really does become a whole lot more humane when, like you know, we're all roughly in the same age range that I bet when we were kids, Like the kids sitting next to you in fourth grade is not learning how to read very well. And there were all sorts of explanations that I certainly agreed with with they're not motivated, they're lazy, maybe they're not so sparred, all of that. And then somewhere between our childhoods and now people figure it out, Oh, you could have, like the architecture of neurons in this part of your cortex screwed up, and as a result, you flip letters that have closed loops, and you got dyslexia, and you got trouble learning to read. And you're not lazy, you're not unmotivated, you're you just this thing happened during fetal development. And like it's a much better world that like we like discover somebody as a learning difference and they've got dyslexia, rather than like you get these testimonies at age forty that damn if only I had gotten my dyslexia diagnosis when I've spent my whole life hating myself for Yeah, all we've seen is that every one of these junctures becomes more humane. Hey, you know what, it doesn't matter how much like self discipline you have and whether you secretly hate yourself or not, if you've got a screwy version of a gene for a receptor for a hormone in your hypothalamis, no matter what you do, you're going to be obese. And it's not because you hate yourself. And it's not because you got your brain doesn't respond to a satiation signal because you got a screwy version of the It's not your fault. It's not your fault. You didn't choose who you loved. You didn't choose. You didn't choose. You didn't choose to be really smart and motivated. You didn't choose to make terrible choices and have horrible self discipline. You didn't choose. It just turned out this way.

It does, but you're as much a victim of any It makes the word victim even irrelevant after a while, and makes words like forgiveness irrelevant. All it is is who we are. It's like okay to pat people on the head and use reward and punishment as purely instrumental tools, because they could be very effective in some settings, but they're not virtues, and they're not they can't be in and of themselves, And the world really does become a whole lot more humane when, like you know, we're all roughly in the same age range that I bet when we were kids, Like the kids sitting next to you in fourth grade is not learning how to read very well. And there were all sorts of explanations that I certainly agreed with with they're not motivated, they're lazy, maybe they're not so sparred, all of that. And then somewhere between our childhoods and now people figure it out, Oh, you could have, like the architecture of neurons in this part of your cortex screwed up, and as a result, you flip letters that have closed loops, and you got dyslexia, and you got trouble learning to read. And you're not lazy, you're not unmotivated, you're you just this thing happened during fetal development. And like it's a much better world that like we like discover somebody as a learning difference and they've got dyslexia, rather than like you get these testimonies at age forty that damn if only I had gotten my dyslexia diagnosis when I've spent my whole life hating myself for Yeah, all we've seen is that every one of these junctures becomes more humane. Hey, you know what, it doesn't matter how much like self discipline you have and whether you secretly hate yourself or not, if you've got a screwy version of a gene for a receptor for a hormone in your hypothalamis, no matter what you do, you're going to be obese. And it's not because you hate yourself. And it's not because you got your brain doesn't respond to a satiation signal because you got a screwy version of the It's not your fault. It's not your fault. You didn't choose who you loved. You didn't choose. You didn't choose. You didn't choose to be really smart and motivated. You didn't choose to make terrible choices and have horrible self discipline. You didn't choose. It just turned out this way.

I also didn't choose to be bald. I just want that put out there. I didn't choose it. I didn't choose it. I didn't choose one hundred years ago. Yeah, your farming community, family, Yeah right, But here's the here's the question.

I also didn't choose to be bald. I just want that put out there. I didn't choose it. I didn't choose it. I didn't choose one hundred years ago. Yeah, your farming community, family, Yeah right, But here's the here's the question.

I guess how I had enough trouble raising my kids with a sense of right and wrong, morality, ethics, compassion, mercy, whatever, you know, qualities, that we would love our children to.

I guess how I had enough trouble raising my kids with a sense of right and wrong, morality, ethics, compassion, mercy, whatever, you know, qualities, that we would love our children to.

Be imbued with. And I was. I was believing in free will and joy.

Be imbued with. And I was. I was believing in free will and joy.

So, knowing what you know, believing what you believe, how do you guide a child towards being who they are, being the result of their destiny as you lay it out, but also someone who understands about consequence and about their actions and with a sense of right wrong morality?

So, knowing what you know, believing what you believe, how do you guide a child towards being who they are, being the result of their destiny as you lay it out, but also someone who understands about consequence and about their actions and with a sense of right wrong morality?

What have you?

What have you?

Well, this is something my wife and I wrestled with endlessly have how to deal.

Well, this is something my wife and I wrestled with endlessly have how to deal.

With our specular, atheistic, mechanistic, biological sheets of scientists, also by training what to do with our kids.

With our specular, atheistic, mechanistic, biological sheets of scientists, also by training what to do with our kids.

You know, it's just as easy of a path towards decent people. Before you judge somebody, think about how they wound up being who they are, and how that might have been totally different than you, and maybe how they didn't have your privileges, blah blah, all of that. Before you decide you should be really impressed with yourself about something, think about all the things you had going for you that other people didn't. And most importantly, every time you think you understand why somebody just did something, including yourself, think about it a second time, and a fifth time, and a tenth time and think about it from their perspective, and how maybe you would have viewed that differently when you were a little bit less knowledgeable about this or that, and think, go back and think about it again, and maybe you won't reach quite the same conclusion about who's deserving of this or that. And remember that all of this is in the context that, hey, you're incredibly lucky you don't have scurvy, you don't have malaria, you don't have warlords rampaging through the neighborhood eating an abandon you do the streets, or like, yeah, you've got a really weird, special, privileged perspective on stuff. Don't forget that.

You know, it's just as easy of a path towards decent people. Before you judge somebody, think about how they wound up being who they are, and how that might have been totally different than you, and maybe how they didn't have your privileges, blah blah, all of that. Before you decide you should be really impressed with yourself about something, think about all the things you had going for you that other people didn't. And most importantly, every time you think you understand why somebody just did something, including yourself, think about it a second time, and a fifth time, and a tenth time and think about it from their perspective, and how maybe you would have viewed that differently when you were a little bit less knowledgeable about this or that, and think, go back and think about it again, and maybe you won't reach quite the same conclusion about who's deserving of this or that. And remember that all of this is in the context that, hey, you're incredibly lucky you don't have scurvy, you don't have malaria, you don't have warlords rampaging through the neighborhood eating an abandon you do the streets, or like, yeah, you've got a really weird, special, privileged perspective on stuff. Don't forget that.

But no hair is a flight a fight flight response. You know, you're reading science that the new inspire momentarily before we make a decision. They fire before you make decisions, so they predate your decision, which would explain the lack of free will whatever. Is that a good example of what you're saying.

But no hair is a flight a fight flight response. You know, you're reading science that the new inspire momentarily before we make a decision. They fire before you make decisions, so they predate your decision, which would explain the lack of free will whatever. Is that a good example of what you're saying.

It's a great one. It's a little micro sliver of that, because that's all like what's going what went on in the last second that had nothing to do with free will. It's one particular domain. It's a pretty important one, because a part of your brain that decides things like if you're terrified and if you want to react aggressively and stuff process's sensory information about a half second before you consciously do, and before you know it, you have, like a peace officer mistaking somebody's cell phone for a handgun and pulling a trigger, And before you know it, you have a whole science of showing why if that person looks this way and instead of that way, you're more likely to make that mistake. In a tenth of a second. Why if you're tired, you're more likely to make that mistake. Why if you were raised in this sort of neighborhood instead of that one, you're more likely to decide that the cell phone is a handgun. All that stuff going into and oh no, they shot an unarmed guy because the cop comsists, Oh, I was sure when he reached for his wallet he was reaching for a gun. And we know that's that's one little micro sliver of all this stuff playing out. Well.

It's a great one. It's a little micro sliver of that, because that's all like what's going what went on in the last second that had nothing to do with free will. It's one particular domain. It's a pretty important one, because a part of your brain that decides things like if you're terrified and if you want to react aggressively and stuff process's sensory information about a half second before you consciously do, and before you know it, you have, like a peace officer mistaking somebody's cell phone for a handgun and pulling a trigger, And before you know it, you have a whole science of showing why if that person looks this way and instead of that way, you're more likely to make that mistake. In a tenth of a second. Why if you're tired, you're more likely to make that mistake. Why if you were raised in this sort of neighborhood instead of that one, you're more likely to decide that the cell phone is a handgun. All that stuff going into and oh no, they shot an unarmed guy because the cop comsists, Oh, I was sure when he reached for his wallet he was reaching for a gun. And we know that's that's one little micro sliver of all this stuff playing out. Well.

I hope we did okay and didn embarrass ourselves with the questions we.

I hope we did okay and didn embarrass ourselves with the questions we.

Asked if we did, It's not our phone.

Asked if we did, It's not our phone.

Oh your family, it's generation blame your ancestor answer anyway, I understand doctor supposed to be. Thanks so much, really appreciate you.

Oh your family, it's generation blame your ancestor answer anyway, I understand doctor supposed to be. Thanks so much, really appreciate you.

Pleasure to have you, and thank you for doing as you do and outstand job of taking something that really was I couldn't wrap my head around it. And now you got me thinking and I will.

Pleasure to have you, and thank you for doing as you do and outstand job of taking something that really was I couldn't wrap my head around it. And now you got me thinking and I will.

I will be spending some time and talking about that. That's what your great great great great grandfather said. Oh, thanks for.

I will be spending some time and talking about that. That's what your great great great great grandfather said. Oh, thanks for.

Being on with us, Thanks for having me on.

Being on with us, Thanks for having me on.

Total take take care of yourself. Are you convinced.

Total take take care of yourself. Are you convinced.

No, because it's so complex, but I'm open to it. Yeah, but I also understand why there's so much us.

No, because it's so complex, but I'm open to it. Yeah, but I also understand why there's so much us.

Here's what's interesting to me is I had dinner last night with Gab and Noah, my boys, and I told them we were going to have this guy on and I said, in his theory is there's no free will in a nano second. They both went, yeah, he's right, of course not it's.

Here's what's interesting to me is I had dinner last night with Gab and Noah, my boys, and I told them we were going to have this guy on and I said, in his theory is there's no free will in a nano second. They both went, yeah, he's right, of course not it's.

All And I wonder if that generations that generated because it is fascinating.

All And I wonder if that generations that generated because it is fascinating.

Look DNA in illness.

Look DNA in illness.

People are predisposed to stuff because of their parents, their grandparents, generations going epilepsy that they thought it was something else. But once you have more knowledge that person doesn't have control over that. So that's a minor free will thing. And then you go, well, this person the committed the crime, but they had a tumor that and we now know that that's that kind of goes toward his argument or.

People are predisposed to stuff because of their parents, their grandparents, generations going epilepsy that they thought it was something else. But once you have more knowledge that person doesn't have control over that. So that's a minor free will thing. And then you go, well, this person the committed the crime, but they had a tumor that and we now know that that's that kind of goes toward his argument or.

I'll tell you like, so, here's my fear is that you know, where does this put us in crime and punishment?

I'll tell you like, so, here's my fear is that you know, where does this put us in crime and punishment?

And I thought you would enjoy this.

And I thought you would enjoy this.

I googled crazy defenses people have had for crimes, and I'm just I'll share four of them with you. There was one case where a young man in his teens I believe, plowed his car into a group of people with his truck. That's terrible. Four died, nine were injured. And his defense was affluenza. Oh yeah, I remember that his wealth prevented him from appreciating the consequences of his actions.

I googled crazy defenses people have had for crimes, and I'm just I'll share four of them with you. There was one case where a young man in his teens I believe, plowed his car into a group of people with his truck. That's terrible. Four died, nine were injured. And his defense was affluenza. Oh yeah, I remember that his wealth prevented him from appreciating the consequences of his actions.

His wealth and then I would say also that his wealth should also, yeah, help him get through the twenty two year or thirty year prison turn.

His wealth and then I would say also that his wealth should also, yeah, help him get through the twenty two year or thirty year prison turn.

Well he did not. He was not found guilty.

Well he did not. He was not found guilty.

Oh that was I remember that case. He was a lesser, trust, yes, but I remember that case. People went out of their mind from that. Yeah, that he was so that his world was so screwed up, yep, that it allowed you to forgive him for what he did because he didn't realize what he did.

Oh that was I remember that case. He was a lesser, trust, yes, but I remember that case. People went out of their mind from that. Yeah, that he was so that his world was so screwed up, yep, that it allowed you to forgive him for what he did because he didn't realize what he did.

Wow.

Wow.

Uh.

Uh.

There was a doctor testified that a gentleman had a history of sleep sex sex somnia. Remember that one s pervaded by the more than sixteen alcoholic drinks he had had the night and magic mushrooms he consumed the day before.

There was a doctor testified that a gentleman had a history of sleep sex sex somnia. Remember that one s pervaded by the more than sixteen alcoholic drinks he had had the night and magic mushrooms he consumed the day before.

And the gentleman was ultimate acquitted of rape. This is this one. A lot of people know. How did he what was conclusion? He acquitted he had sex omnia?

And the gentleman was ultimate acquitted of rape. This is this one. A lot of people know. How did he what was conclusion? He acquitted he had sex omnia?

The twinkie defense Harvey Miller remember and George Moscow and San Francisco murdered by then White. His lawyers argued diminished capacity given his bouts of depression, wherein days before the murder he ate only twinkies, and they argued the junk food altered and the jury acquitted of murder and a convicted of voluntary manslaughter. And the last one is people that have taken what is called the matrix defense, saying that in the moment of their of their that they were convinced they were living in an alternate dream like.

The twinkie defense Harvey Miller remember and George Moscow and San Francisco murdered by then White. His lawyers argued diminished capacity given his bouts of depression, wherein days before the murder he ate only twinkies, and they argued the junk food altered and the jury acquitted of murder and a convicted of voluntary manslaughter. And the last one is people that have taken what is called the matrix defense, saying that in the moment of their of their that they were convinced they were living in an alternate dream like.

Well we are, but that doesn't get you apparently, Wow, apparently I gotta talk. It does if I can say the word balls on our part, Well, the balls get away and you know how good you have to be present?

Well we are, but that doesn't get you apparently, Wow, apparently I gotta talk. It does if I can say the word balls on our part, Well, the balls get away and you know how good you have to be present?

Did a jewelry? Yeah? Why is that defense?

Did a jewelry? Yeah? Why is that defense?

Wow?

Wow?

And it's not far from what we did on sign Felt when Jerry George urinated in the parking garage because they couldn't find a man's room and they said I have urmsatysis.

And it's not far from what we did on sign Felt when Jerry George urinated in the parking garage because they couldn't find a man's room and they said I have urmsatysis.

Well they lied and made up something that didn't exist at all. At least this one was basically so mister Google.

Well they lied and made up something that didn't exist at all. At least this one was basically so mister Google.

Hon Yes, wow, Yeah, I didn't have any free will to understand the last twenty minutes. I understand since we now have the loss of free will, I wanted to give something back and give you a reminder of things.

Hon Yes, wow, Yeah, I didn't have any free will to understand the last twenty minutes. I understand since we now have the loss of free will, I wanted to give something back and give you a reminder of things.

That are free.

That are free.

Oh I like it.

Oh I like it.

Lollipops at banks, Halloween, can't.

Lollipops at banks, Halloween, can't.

Hold on, hold on.

Hold on, hold on.

We went from the we we went for it because you were interested in finding out about we wanted.

We went from the we we went for it because you were interested in finding out about we wanted.

We said it was in the news, a huge yea. We were going to nothing. But nothing in the brank is free. You can't just walk in, yes you can.

We said it was in the news, a huge yea. We were going to nothing. But nothing in the brank is free. You can't just walk in, yes you can.

You can't stay you can you can't can take a lollipop and walk out where you I.

You can't stay you can you can't can take a lollipop and walk out where you I.

Will videotape myself walking into a bank saying thank you very much to the teller, and I will go ahead.

Will videotape myself walking into a bank saying thank you very much to the teller, and I will go ahead.

Let's see.

Let's see.

I'll just sense it's going over. I got two last ones that then I think I'm gonna skip over the library books, Microsoft word is free as long as you use your kids email address.

I'll just sense it's going over. I got two last ones that then I think I'm gonna skip over the library books, Microsoft word is free as long as you use your kids email address.

Talk slower because people I didn't know just to just say yes.

Talk slower because people I didn't know just to just say yes.

And of course the best free thing of all public radio.

And of course the best free thing of all public radio.

You gotta buy a radio donations. But that's okay, that's good, good job, nailed it, nailed it. You know, that's just free. Those sneakers on the power you know that is free COVID. See, that's the spirit, that's the spirit. Thank you, producer, Lori, thank you producing David. Thank you to all of you for watching and listening. And yeah, they had no choices free. Really.

You gotta buy a radio donations. But that's okay, that's good, good job, nailed it, nailed it. You know, that's just free. Those sneakers on the power you know that is free COVID. See, that's the spirit, that's the spirit. Thank you, producer, Lori, thank you producing David. Thank you to all of you for watching and listening. And yeah, they had no choices free. Really.

As another episode of Really No Really comes to a close, I know you've been wanting to know more about the Monty Hall problem and or what that is and how you can use it to choose wisely most of the time that answer in a moment. But first let's thank our guest, doctor Robert Sapalski. You can follow the good doctor on TikTok where he is at a Primates TikTok, and you can find his latest fascinating book, Determined, a Science of Life Without Free Will wherever you get your hard copy or electronic books. Find all pertinent links in our show notes. Our little show hangs out on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and threads at really No Really podcast, And of course you can share your thoughts and feedback with us online at reallynoreally dot com. If you have a really some amazing factor story that boggles your mind, share it with us and if we use it, we will send you a little gift. Nothing life changing, obviously, but it's the thought that counts. Check out our full episodes on YouTube, hit that subscribe button and take that bell. So here updated when we release new videos and episodes, which we do each Tuesday, So listen and follow us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

As another episode of Really No Really comes to a close, I know you've been wanting to know more about the Monty Hall problem and or what that is and how you can use it to choose wisely most of the time that answer in a moment. But first let's thank our guest, doctor Robert Sapalski. You can follow the good doctor on TikTok where he is at a Primates TikTok, and you can find his latest fascinating book, Determined, a Science of Life Without Free Will wherever you get your hard copy or electronic books. Find all pertinent links in our show notes. Our little show hangs out on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and threads at really No Really podcast, And of course you can share your thoughts and feedback with us online at reallynoreally dot com. If you have a really some amazing factor story that boggles your mind, share it with us and if we use it, we will send you a little gift. Nothing life changing, obviously, but it's the thought that counts. Check out our full episodes on YouTube, hit that subscribe button and take that bell. So here updated when we release new videos and episodes, which we do each Tuesday, So listen and follow us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

And now the.

And now the.

Answer to the question, what is the Monty Hall problem and how.

Answer to the question, what is the Monty Hall problem and how.

Can you use it to make good guesses?

Can you use it to make good guesses?

Monty Hall was the original host of the game show Phenomenon Let's Make a Deal. Often on the show, he would offer a contestant a choice of one.

Monty Hall was the original host of the game show Phenomenon Let's Make a Deal. Often on the show, he would offer a contestant a choice of one.

Out of three doors.

Out of three doors.

Behind one door would be a prize, but behind the other two would be nothing. After the contestant chose, Monty would reveal one of the two remaining doors containing nothing. This would confirm that one of the two remaining doors, including the one the contestant chose, had to contain the prize.

Behind one door would be a prize, but behind the other two would be nothing. After the contestant chose, Monty would reveal one of the two remaining doors containing nothing. This would confirm that one of the two remaining doors, including the one the contestant chose, had to contain the prize.

Then mister Hall would ask.

Then mister Hall would ask.

The contestant if they wanted to change their mind and choose the door they had not chosen initially.

The contestant if they wanted to change their mind and choose the door they had not chosen initially.

And this is the Monty Hall problem.

And this is the Monty Hall problem.

Now, most people would reason that there is no advantage to changing your choice is either way you have a fifty to fifty chance that your first guest was the right one. But statisticians and scientists have proven that assumption to be false.

Now, most people would reason that there is no advantage to changing your choice is either way you have a fifty to fifty chance that your first guest was the right one. But statisticians and scientists have proven that assumption to be false.

How you may ask, well, here's how.

How you may ask, well, here's how.

When the contestant made their initial choice, their odds of choosing correctly were one out of three, but the second offering allows them to make a one out of two choice, the odds of which are far better. It may seem ridiculous, but science and research has shown that if you change your mind and pick the other door at this critical moment, if you increase your odds being correct from thirty three percent to sixty six percent.

When the contestant made their initial choice, their odds of choosing correctly were one out of three, but the second offering allows them to make a one out of two choice, the odds of which are far better. It may seem ridiculous, but science and research has shown that if you change your mind and pick the other door at this critical moment, if you increase your odds being correct from thirty three percent to sixty six percent.

And that is the edge that every gambler dreams of. In short, don't be afraid.

And that is the edge that every gambler dreams of. In short, don't be afraid.

To examine your choices, even if you didn't make them freely. Really No, Really is a production of iHeartRadio and Blaise Entertainment.

To examine your choices, even if you didn't make them freely. Really No, Really is a production of iHeartRadio and Blaise Entertainment.