Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will
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- Create Date：2023-11-30 16:21:47
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Kevin J. Mitchell
- ISBN：B0CFRHLHB6
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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 emerged 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 this 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 emerged 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 this matters。
Reviews
Daniel
，
Contra la concepción dominante， un reputado hombre de ciencia acaba de defender el libre albedrío en clave darwinista en un libro tan heterodoxo como fascinante。 Así lo proclama Kevin J。 Mitchell en Free agents: "Para mí， se trata de una idea no sólo errónea， sino también equivocada。 Un enfoque de la vida puramente reduccionista y mecanicista pierde por completo la perspectiva"。Y prosigue: "Al contrario， las leyes básicas de la física que tratan sólo de la energía， la materia y las fuerzas funda Contra la concepción dominante， un reputado hombre de ciencia acaba de defender el libre albedrío en clave darwinista en un libro tan heterodoxo como fascinante。 Así lo proclama Kevin J。 Mitchell en Free agents: "Para mí， se trata de una idea no sólo errónea， sino también equivocada。 Un enfoque de la vida puramente reduccionista y mecanicista pierde por completo la perspectiva"。Y prosigue: "Al contrario， las leyes básicas de la física que tratan sólo de la energía， la materia y las fuerzas fundamentales no pueden explicar qué es la vida o su propiedad definitoria: los organismos vivos hacen cosas por razones， como agentes causales por derecho propio。 No los impulsa la energía sino la información。 Mi objetivo es explorar cómo los seres vivos llegan a tener esta capacidad de elegir， de controlar de forma autónoma su propio comportamiento y de actuar como causas en el mundo。 La clave de este esfuerzo， en mi opinión， es adoptar una perspectiva evolutiva"。Mitchell guía a los lectores a través de milenios de evolución， de la fisiología del cerebro y de una miríada de ideas filosóficas sobre la agencia humana para ilustrar cómo surgió en organismos complejos。 "No pueden entenderse como máquinas estáticas o disposiciones instantáneas de materia"， afirma。 "Más bien， son patrones de procesos dinámicos entrelazados que persisten activamente a través del tiempo"。Según su libro， las presiones de la selección natural para sobrevivir y reproducirse impulsaron procesos insensibles y no dirigidos que aumentaron la complejidad de la vida。 Así， la agencia se facilita a través de mecanismos físicos: actuamos por razones， y estas razones surgen del conjunto de nuestras experiencias， de los fines que nos hemos fijado a través de la metacognición， de nuestras inclinaciones innatas y del conjunto de opciones disponibles para nosotros en cualquier situación。https://www。elmundo。es/papel/historia。。。 。。。more
Michael Huang
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Whether we have free will is one of those thorny， endlessly debated philosophical questions。 The author’s perspective is that not only we do have free will， but there’s an obvious evolutionary path to free will。 If the world is deterministic， then of course， everything is preordained。 But quantum mechanics already showed that nature is fundamentally probabilistic。 And this was intuited as far back as Epicurus who claims atoms have to “swerve” in their path。 To obtain certain reward in a probabil Whether we have free will is one of those thorny， endlessly debated philosophical questions。 The author’s perspective is that not only we do have free will， but there’s an obvious evolutionary path to free will。 If the world is deterministic， then of course， everything is preordained。 But quantum mechanics already showed that nature is fundamentally probabilistic。 And this was intuited as far back as Epicurus who claims atoms have to “swerve” in their path。 To obtain certain reward in a probabilistic environment requires some algorithm （e。g。， “if unsuccessful try again”）。 The book charted the path of how cells， sensors， neurons， and concept of self were all advantageous to the persistence of organisms and thus evolutionarily selected。 Subsequently， a decision making process that can simulate the risk and reward of actions also evolved。 Coupled with memory and long-term reinforcement learning， this decision making process becomes， in a nutshell， our free will。 Good story telling all around。 Of course， this will probably not end the debate of whether we have free will。 But I’m sold。 。。。more
Paul Sand
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I'm unsure why， but I've long been interested in the topic of free will。 I made one of my rare suggestions that Portsmouth （NH） Public Library buy this book， and they acceded。 As you can tell from the title， it's pro-free will。 （But to be fair， I also have Robert Sapolsky's recent anti-free will book Determined on my "get" list。） There's a blurb on the back from Steven Pinker: Kevin Mitchell brings clear thinking and scientific rigor to a vital topic that leaves many people confused， caught b I'm unsure why， but I've long been interested in the topic of free will。 I made one of my rare suggestions that Portsmouth （NH） Public Library buy this book， and they acceded。 As you can tell from the title， it's pro-free will。 （But to be fair， I also have Robert Sapolsky's recent anti-free will book Determined on my "get" list。） There's a blurb on the back from Steven Pinker: Kevin Mitchell brings clear thinking and scientific rigor to a vital topic that leaves many people confused， caught between the preposterous alternatives that either humans are robots or that every time we make a decision， a miracle occurs。 That's a pretty good summary。 Mitchell is a professor at Trinity College （Dublin） in the Genetics and Neuroscience department。 Much of the book is devoted to exploring the long and tedious process by which evolution developed ever-increasingly complex neural systems for survival advantage。 To be honest， my eyes glazed over in a number of spots。 （Page 73: "We already saw transient multicellular behavior in the slugs and fruiting bodies formed by the aggregation of individual Dictyostelium amoebas。 This kind of aggregative multicellularity is observed in many other species， across diverse groups of eukaryotes， and even in some bacteria called myxobacteria。" OK， if you say so。） I confess that pro-free will authors are pushing on an open door in my case。 But Mitchell's argument here is careful and （seemingly） fair to the other side。 He's even reluctant to provide his Official Definition of free will; I think the closest he gets is （page 282）: "If free will is the capacity for conscious， rational， control of our actions， then I am happy in saying we have it。" That works for me。 I believe Mitchell is making a strong science-justified claim roughly similar to the psychological argument made by Ken Sheldon in Freely Determined; there's a "hierarchy of human reality"。 At the lowest level， there's the physics and chemistry of interacting atoms and molecules; moving up， there's increasing complexity in cells， organs， and "systems"。 And it proceeds upward into relationships， society， and culture。 Determinists only see causality working bottom-up: it's just those atoms bumping into each other that cause everything else。 Mitchell and Sheldon say no: causality works top-down too。 Specifically， your cognitive functions can work their will on the lower level too。 And that means （ta-da） free will。 The usual disclaimer: ardent determinists and zealous free-willers （I'm pretty sure） are united in their beliefs having absolutely no effect in how they run their everyday lives。 To use a common example: they pick out which shirt to wear in the morning， neither thinking too much about it， nor waiting until the molecules in their body do whatever they were predestined to do anyway。 Minor nit: Mitchell says （page 29） that the hydrogen nucleus "comprises a single proton and a single neutron。" Ack， no: it's just a proton。 （I assume he's right about everything else， though。） 。。。more
Jonathan Shock
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My review can be found here: http://www。mathemafrica。org/？p=17167 My review can be found here: http://www。mathemafrica。org/？p=17167 。。。more
Jim Witkins
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A look at how brains evolved purpose driven， goal oriented thinking… sure we are constrained by how brains work， our culture， experiences， biology， etc， but that’s what selves are… to argue otherwise is to argue for something outside of being human。 Lots to absorb。 Likely needs a second reading。
Reader
，
A brilliant account of the evolutionary history and biological mechanisms behind things like agency and free will。 I cannot in good conscience rate this higher than 1-star though because of the poor scholarly standards when it comes to discussing free will and agency conceptually。 It is as though he did not consult a single colleague in philosophy or cognitive science to sharpen his use of language around the subject。Feel free to read the book of you have a curiosity in how agency， decision maki A brilliant account of the evolutionary history and biological mechanisms behind things like agency and free will。 I cannot in good conscience rate this higher than 1-star though because of the poor scholarly standards when it comes to discussing free will and agency conceptually。 It is as though he did not consult a single colleague in philosophy or cognitive science to sharpen his use of language around the subject。Feel free to read the book of you have a curiosity in how agency， decision making works in humans， but don’t expect to learn anything new about free will。 。。。more
Meeta Vete
，
The author does an incredible job taking us through the journey of evolution ， from a single celled organisms to organisms with neurons to where we are as Humans。 In this journey he wonderfully connects various aspects （genetics， biochemistry， psychology， etc） and takes a 360 view on the process。However， on the key premise of the book， which is us having free will， I don't think he is able to make a convincing argument。 Towards the end he states with all the discussion in various chapters it sho The author does an incredible job taking us through the journey of evolution ， from a single celled organisms to organisms with neurons to where we are as Humans。 In this journey he wonderfully connects various aspects （genetics， biochemistry， psychology， etc） and takes a 360 view on the process。However， on the key premise of the book， which is us having free will， I don't think he is able to make a convincing argument。 Towards the end he states with all the discussion in various chapters it should be obvious by now that we have free will。 It was not obvious to me though。 Maybe that's just me 。。。more
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 word。 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。Extended review on Substack 。。。more
Angie Boyter
，
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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free agents how evolution gave us free will