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He mentions this in passing on the Mindscape podcast (with Sean Carroll). Essentially, he's read too many studies that have participants perform so called 'rat

He mentions this in passing on the Mindscape podcast (with Sean Carroll). Essentially, he's read too many studies that have participants perform so called 'rational' tests whose outcomes are largely a function of the environment and not the 'given test' -- ie, the presence of a foul smell caused a statistical difference in the outcome of the test. Our capacity to reflect and internalize is, to him, another output of a vast and continual, unconscious, shaping all life undergoes.

qwerty456127 5y ago
> the presence of a foul smell caused a statistical difference in the outcome of the test But the fact there is a statistical difference does not mean it affects everyone and in the same degree. E.g. they probably didn't test many experienced Zen monks trained to impartially and vigilantly observe what they perceive and feel and a couple of weird guys who do this naturally also didn't affect the statistics. Statistics is both a great tool and also a problem of modern science. I bet some medications dismissed for failing to show statistical significance in DBPC trials could actually work (by means of some real phenomenon rather than the placebo effect) in some rare cases. > Our capacity to reflect and internalize is, to him, another output of a vast and continual, unconscious, shaping all life undergoes. It probably is. No action can exist without a sequence of past interactions which led to it. Even if I stop, think and make a conscious decision, even if I try to come up with a non-standard one, this means my previous experience led me to the idea I even should. But this doesn't mean "humans have no free will", it means "free will" is a meaningless concept outside the realm of logic and neither saying it exists nor saying it doesn't makes any sense and being sad about this doesn't make any sense either.
- jessermeyer 5y ago
  I have been waiting for high quality studies on practitioners of meditation over the will and other meta-cognitive capabilities. If you ever come across some, please post them here!

qwerty456127 5y ago

> the presence of a foul smell caused a statistical difference in the outcome of the test But the fact there is a statistical difference does not mean it affects everyone and in the same degree. E.g. they probably didn't test many experienced Zen monks trained to impartially and vigilantly observe what they perceive and feel and a couple of weird guys who do this naturally also didn't affect the statistics. Statistics is both a great tool and also a problem of modern science. I bet some medications dismissed for failing to show statistical significance in DBPC trials could actually work (by means of some real phenomenon rather than the placebo effect) in some rare cases. > Our capacity to reflect and internalize is, to him, another output of a vast and continual, unconscious, shaping all life undergoes. It probably is. No action can exist without a sequence of past interactions which led to it. Even if I stop, think and make a conscious decision, even if I try to come up with a non-standard one, this means my previous experience led me to the idea I even should. But this doesn't mean "humans have no free will", it means "free will" is a meaningless concept outside the realm of logic and neither saying it exists nor saying it doesn't makes any sense and being sad about this doesn't make any sense either.

jessermeyer 5y ago
I have been waiting for high quality studies on practitioners of meditation over the will and other meta-cognitive capabilities. If you ever come across some, please post them here!