Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2023-10-23 16:21:57
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Kevin J. Mitchell
- ISBN：0691226237
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Summary
An evolutionary case for the existence of free will
Scientists are learning more and more about how brain activity controls behavior and how neural circuits weigh alternatives and initiate actions。 As we probe ever deeper into the mechanics of decision making， many conclude that agency—or free will—is an illusion。 In Free Agents ， leading neuroscientist Kevin Mitchell presents a wealth of evidence to the contrary， arguing that we are not mere machines responding to physical forces but agents acting with purpose。
Traversing billions of years of evolution， Mitchell tells the remarkable story of how living beings capable of choice arose from lifeless matter。 He explains how the emergence of nervous systems provided a means to learn about the world， granting sentient animals the capacity to model， predict， and simulate。 Mitchell reveals how these faculties reached their peak in humans with our abilities to imagine and to be introspective， to reason in the moment， and to shape our possible futures through the exercise of our individual agency。 Mitchell’s argument has important implications—for how we understand decision making， for how our individual agency can be enhanced or infringed， for how we think about collective agency in the face of global crises， and for how we consider the limitations and future of artificial intelligence。
An astonishing journey of discovery， Free Agents offers a new framework for understanding how， across a billion years of Earth history， life evolved the power to choose， and why it matters。
Scientists are learning more and more about how brain activity controls behavior and how neural circuits weigh alternatives and initiate actions。 As we probe ever deeper into the mechanics of decision making， many conclude that agency—or free will—is an illusion。 In Free Agents ， leading neuroscientist Kevin Mitchell presents a wealth of evidence to the contrary， arguing that we are not mere machines responding to physical forces but agents acting with purpose。
Traversing billions of years of evolution， Mitchell tells the remarkable story of how living beings capable of choice arose from lifeless matter。 He explains how the emergence of nervous systems provided a means to learn about the world， granting sentient animals the capacity to model， predict， and simulate。 Mitchell reveals how these faculties reached their peak in humans with our abilities to imagine and to be introspective， to reason in the moment， and to shape our possible futures through the exercise of our individual agency。 Mitchell’s argument has important implications—for how we understand decision making， for how our individual agency can be enhanced or infringed， for how we think about collective agency in the face of global crises， and for how we consider the limitations and future of artificial intelligence。
An astonishing journey of discovery， Free Agents offers a new framework for understanding how， across a billion years of Earth history， life evolved the power to choose， and why it matters。
Reviews
Juny Pagán
，
Una buena lectura complementaria es The Evolution of Agency: Behavioral Organization from Lizards to Humans de Michael Tomasello。 Una buena lectura complementaria es The Evolution of Agency: Behavioral Organization from Lizards to Humans de Michael Tomasello。 。。。more
Shawn Adamsson
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While maybe the most exhaustive defense of free will that I’ve ever read， I found his argument ultimately unconvincing。 Although the author states that this was written with a layperson in mind， I don’t think the end result hits that mark。
Stetson
，
It appears that late 2023 is a particularly active time in debates about consciousness and free will。 Recently， eminent proponents of free will and determinism like Erik Hoel and Robert Sapolsky， respectively， have made their cases in recent books， The World Behind the World and Determined。 And a collection of consciousness researchers have publicly inveighed against a theory of consciousness， integrated information theory， that has been invoked to make arguments for free will。 This free-will-di It appears that late 2023 is a particularly active time in debates about consciousness and free will。 Recently， eminent proponents of free will and determinism like Erik Hoel and Robert Sapolsky， respectively， have made their cases in recent books， The World Behind the World and Determined。 And a collection of consciousness researchers have publicly inveighed against a theory of consciousness， integrated information theory， that has been invoked to make arguments for free will。 This free-will-discourse tinderbox seems to have been lit by recent developments in AI along with the increasingly hegemonic presence of scientific and technological innovation in our daily lives。 Our technological age seems almost naturally to suggest that we ourselves are machines of flesh and blood。But Kevin J。 Mitchell would like a world。 His latest book， Free Agents， is "a naturalistic framework for thinking about agency and free will。" In concise and clear fashion， Mitchell walks readers through millennia of evolution， the physiology of the brain， and myriad philosophical ideas about agency in order to illustrate just how said agency emerged in complex organisms。 His model is persuasive， although unfortunately incomplete。 Of course， there would be no fruitful debate to be had if significant ambiguity wasn't extant。 Mitchell argues that organisms "cannot be understood as static machines or instantaneous arrangements of matter: instead， they are patterns of interlocking dynamical processes that actively persist through time。" The pressures to persist and reproduce （natural selection） drove unfeeling and undirected processes that increased the complexity of life over time。 With this complexity came the coding of stimuli into good and bad boxes （valence）， the integration of many environmental stimuli in a control system （a central nervous system）， the specialization of cells and cell states， the representation of the environment within organisms， simulation of possible events in a mapped environment， and eventually an abstract and recursive map of mental experience itself。 Mitchell argues this final step of reasoning about reasons along with the indefiniteness of the basic rules of matter allow agency to facilitate through physical mechanisms。 We act for reasons， and these reasons emerge from the collection of our experiences， the goals we've set （via metacognition）， our innate proclivities， and the set of choices available to us in any situation。There's ostensibly a great deal of scientific and philosophical merit to Mitchell's thesis。 It is truly a scientific defense of free will， which was something particularly difficult to pull off （with a scientific audience） a decade ago。 The erudition and clarity with which Mitchell handles complex concepts is praise worthy。 However， there is also a nagging measure of incompleteness to the work， including the partial vulnerability of Mitchell's argument to future discovery。 What if there are fields of science that can reliably predict complex behavioral and social outcomes in humans？ What if general intelligence and consciousness is achieved artificially and those entities are clearly without agency？ What if the mechanisms of consciousness and metacognition are entirely illuminated and shown to be entirely outside of conscious control？ Now， I think definitive answers to the questions above are unlikely， but they can't entirely be ruled out either。 However， it is also possible many of Mitchell's claims would survive such developments （I think to some extent his case anticipates these issues just doesn't quite respond completely）。 Nonetheless， Free Agent is a provocative and special contribution to the discourse on free will。 And it is certainly also a balm of sorts to the human condition to be reminded of the power and importance of will。 。。。more
Angie Boyter
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3+/4-Author Kevin Mitchell defines his goal for Free Agents twice， and these are very different expressions。 In the Preface he rejects a mechanistic approach and asserts that living organisms do things as causal agents driven by information， and he aims to “explore how living things come to have this ability to choose， to autonomously control their own behavior， to act as causes in the world。” In the final chapter， he says his goal is “to present a naturalistic framework for thinking about agenc 3+/4-Author Kevin Mitchell defines his goal for Free Agents twice， and these are very different expressions。 In the Preface he rejects a mechanistic approach and asserts that living organisms do things as causal agents driven by information， and he aims to “explore how living things come to have this ability to choose， to autonomously control their own behavior， to act as causes in the world。” In the final chapter， he says his goal is “to present a naturalistic framework for thinking about agency and free will”， which involves “a reframing of some fundamental philosophical issues， including the nature of causation， time， information， meaning， purpose， and selfhood。” As a professor of genetics and neuroscience， Mitchell is well equipped to take on this difficult question。 The book acknowledges and builds on the work of many others in the cognitive and philosophical realms， like Steve Pinker， Daniel Dennett， and Antonio Damasio as well as numerous biologists and physicists like Erwin Schrodinger and Sean Carroll。Mitchell’s exploration of the source of free will goes back to the very beginnings of life and includes some rather deep science that will make it more appropriate for the science lover than the philosophy fan。 If your eyes glaze over when you read， “ Simple life forms like bacteria have a protein… called ATP synthase…。 It acts as a channel through which H+ ions from the outside can pass to the inside。 As they pass through， they power the mechanism of the ATP synthase， which takes a molecule of adenosine with only two phosphate groups attached to it （ADP） and adds a third （to make ATP）”， this book might not be right for you or at least you might want to skip to the final chapters on Thinking about Thinking and Free Will or the epilog on Artificial Agents。 These are thoughtful and stimulating but not so heavy on the biological science。 For the right audience it is a fascinating read。I received an advance review copy of this book from Edelweiss and Princeton University Press。 。。。more
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