Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will

by Robert M. Sapolsky

A series of studies initiated by behavioral economist Katherine Vohs of the University of Minnesota show that free-will skeptics become more antisocial in their behaviors. In experiments, they are more likely to cheat on a test and to take more than their fair share of money from a common pot. They become less likely to help a stranger in need and more aggressive (after being rebuffed by someone, the subject gets to take revenge by determining how much hot sauce the person will have to consume—make someone a free-will skeptic and they nearly double the amount of retributive hot sauce). Less free-will belief and subjects feel less grateful to someone who has done them a favor—why feel gratitude for an act that was someone’s mere biological imperative? And just in case it seems like these skeptics are now having too much nihilistic fun by getting to take revenge with a dish served spicily, the manipulation also makes people feel less meaning in their lives and less of a sense of belonging to other humans. Moreover, lessened free-will belief leads to people feeling like they have less self-knowledge, and to feeling alienated from their “true selves” when making a moral decision.