Editor’s Note: This article previously appeared in a different format as part of The Atlantic’s Notes section, retired in 2021. It’s no surprise that Stephen Cave’s story in our current issue, ...
The takeaway of Robert Sapolsky’s Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will is basically the same as that espoused by those Snickers commercials: You’re not you when you’re hungry. Except ...
Imagine standing at a crossroads. You pause, thinking you’re about to make a choice — left or right, stay or go, yes or no. It feels deliberate, conscious, yours. But what if that moment of decision ...