Customer Reviews

The Myth of Free Will, Revised & Expanded Edition

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I wasn't quite prepared for what this book would be like, but I can't say I was disappointed, either. It's breezy, unpretentious, and contains a number of solid quotes and essays that achieve exactly what the author set out to do: create serious doubt about the possibility of human free will. If that sounds depressing or nihilistic, she also makes a brave case that it is not. The fact that the "author" herself has no real qualifications to write such a book (she actually lists her sole qualification as "truth seeker" in the introduction), hardly matters because 90 percent of the book consists of the words of people who ARE experts--philosophers, scientists, cultural icons like Mark Twain and the Buddha. The whole thing can be read in an hour, and among its better features is the way it points the reader to fuller treatments on the key assertions in longer, more scholarly media. It's hard to recommend this quirky book without reservations, because it does suffer from a self-published lack of professionalism and polish, but I actually found that part of its charm. It's like looking at an intelligent, inquisitive person's scrap book on the subject of free will, introduced with wise and accessible language (including a very nice opening essay by Susan Blackmore written specifically for this book).

The Myth of Free Will by Cris Evatt

The Myth of Free Will by Cris Evatt is a collection of brief thought-provoking essays from prominent experts and freethinkers regarding the myth that is free will. This short book is surprisingly lighthearted even uplifting yet profound and was exactly what I was hoping it would be. A succinct book that answers the most important questions about free will. This book is like a seed of knowledge that once planted in your brain leads you to other evolving branches of wisdom. The book is composed of the following six chapters: 1. "I CHOOSE, therefore I have free will.", 2. "The Myth & Casualty, 3. The Myth & Morality, 4. The Myth & the Brain, 5. The Myth & Naturalism, and 6. The Myth & Me.

Positives:
1. A well written book that is accessible to the masses.
2. A fun, witty, and a book that can easily be read in one sitting.
3. Finally, someone who knows how to take a difficult concept like free will and place it in its proper place. So do I have free will?
4. Fascinating tidbits of knowledge throughout.
5. Some of the great minds of our time have contributed to this book. Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, Damasio, Crick, Ridley, Shermer, Pinker, Blackmore, and Wegner to name a few .
6. Some of the best explanations I've read regarding the myth that is Free Will.
7. The book has a way of wetting your appetite for more knowledge. The author does a splendid job of providing further reading material within the context of the book. In fact, I purchased a couple of books as a result of her recommendations.
8. I absolutely love how the author ends each chapter with chapter-appropriate quotes by great minds. Love that!!
9. Prevention as a better tactic over punishment. A great essay.
10. Great science, primarily neuroscience is used to help us rethink the extent of personal control. Compelling arguments substantiated by science!
11. Many interesting and surprisingly uplifting concepts come as a result of eliminating free will. Such as, humans can look forward to a more humane and better life as a result of such knowledge. "Moral responsibility requires no free will."
12. Many great points abound in this book. "In the coming decades, our concept of free will, based as it is now on ignorance of its actual mechanisms, will be destroyed by what we learn about the actual workings of the brain."
13. It's a great book to give someone interested in the topic. The book will also provide new paths to pursue as well.
14. Cris Evatt provides a list of 16 known brain biases ; the building blocks of human nature. Excellent.
15. Naturalism for the masses.
16. Cris Evatt finalizes the book with an interesting first-look at how knowledge of the free will myth has made her a better person. Enlightening and uplifting.

Negatives:
1. I end up wanting more but in a good way!
2. In any book of essays, some will be of more interest to a reader than others.
3. The book is written for the masses so if you are looking for in depth knowledge, just follow the suggestions.
4. I would have liked more links or references of specific studies that help debunk the myths presented in the book.
5. Having to wait for Chris Evatt's next book.I have my "Brain Biases."

In summary, a fantastic fun read about the myth of free will. I can't recommend this book enough. It met and exceeded my expectations. Cris Evatt does exactly what I wished more authors would do: to write a book that is fun to read, interesting topics, great book recommendations, great quotes and profoundly succinct.

A collect of brief essays - many being only a few paragraphs long - that make the case for determinism (e.g. we have no real free will). I had already accepted that determinism is probably the correct view before reading this book. However, I think the topic is much more nuanced than what was presented in the book's brief, polemic essays. If you're looking for a high-level set of talking points that make the case for determinism and its implications this book may be a good starting point. If you want a more in-depth discussion that presents both sides of the free will/determinism discussion, you should look elsewhere.

The huge topic of Free Will has been explored as a source of controversy for centuries. Cris's book successfully uses a small, digestible format to discuss big ideas about how and why we make decisions and judgements. This surprisingly quick read includes excerpts from noted experts/thinkers, peppered with witty personal perceptions and revelations. A helpful glossary of terms is a bonus.
MFW might be considered a primer on the basic notions of why man thinks he has free will-- or not. Starting simply by observing choices, a banana instead of a papaya, for example, we begin to see how and why we choose what we choose. The book then amps up to the big influences surrounding friendships, jobs and beliefs about life and death.
If you want to challenge your own belief systems about what makes you and others tick--this is a fun, gently-challenging read. Next time you find yourself deciding what to have for breakfast or while dining at your favorite restaurant-- you might think twice about who's really in charge and who's seeing the menu! You may discovery a new pair of eyes and more.......
Enjoy!

If you have thought very much about free will, you will probably soon realize that it is an illusion.

But if you dare to talk about your thoughts about it with friends or family, they will sure look at you funny--even the open-minded smart ones!

So have a copy of this book around to show them what you are talking about. It will get them there if they are at all open to the possibility.

As Cris notes in her last chapter, this book will probably be unnecessary 100 years from now when everyone knows that free will is a myth and an illusion. Given that the arguments about free will have been going on for several hundred years, we might wonder why a convincing resolution is so close at hand. The reason is that there is a new player in this game that was formerly reserved for philosophers: science.

Although science has been around at least since Copernicus, it has taken a few centuries to make any real headway in unraveling the puzzles of human behavior. The recent development of computers and fMRI scanners gave scientists the tools they needed.

Just as no one doubts any longer that the earth orbits the sun, the day is not far off when we have equal clarity about the myth of free will. This book can be an invaluable introduction to that future; a chance to get ahead of the curve.

Cris covers all the basic issues, from why free will feels so right in spite of its being so wrong, to the question of morality without free will, to the science which unravels the idea, and finally, to the changes in how we look at the world and our selves without it. It's a complex issue, but Cris leads us through with grace, insight, and an impressive selection of quotes from some of the greatest thinkers and researchers of our time and from the past.

This investigation of the myth of free will would be interesting enough as an intellectual exercise, but as Cris details in the final chapter, it is much more than that. Understanding the truth of who we are opens up possibilities for a fuller, more compassionate, more interesting life.

Giving up the myth of free will might seem at first to be a great loss, but just the opposite is true. There is much more to be gained than lost, and this book may start you on the most exciting journey of your life.

I can agree with the idea we don't have "free will", per se, but I was uncertain where to go from there. I hoped this book would be a starting point, but instead I found a collection of sound bytes and quick nostrums by many different experts, some of whom I thought barely qualified as such, with glib and fatuous new agey commentary by the "author", who states up front she has zero philosophical qualifications.
I looked at a few selections I thought might answer some of the questions I have, but came up with very little that was helpful, because almost all substantial discussion was missing, leaving only short quotes to be used at parties to impress people.
Most of the writing seemed to be more concerned with convincing the reader that free will is an illusion, which I did not need. Some suggestions were made for the world to convert over to practices that were tried (and failed miserably) back in the 1960's.
Overall, I was very disappointed and felt frustrated. I will have to look elsewhere to even begin my understanding of this very difficult and controversial topic.

Short, easy-to-read, thought-provoking, with lots and lots of references to other books that will let you explore whatever aspects of this topic tickle your fancy. Highly recommended to anyone providing you're at least a little open-minded. This book will challenge some ideas we all take for granted.

This would be the perfect book to give to a friend who you want to introduce to the subject.

According to Sturgeon's Law, 95% of everything is crap. In no other field is this law more pronounced than the philosophy of free will.

Cris Evatt's brief book has a breathtaking list of contributors- even those who have never read a piece of philosophy, neuroscience, or general science will recognize a few names on the back cover. However, this field does not seem suited for any of those listed (with the limited exception of Daniel Wegner and Daniel Dennett). Many sections showcase amateurish philosophical blunders. For example, the Hard Determinists featured are quick to implicitly or explicitly ascribe to an interesting dualism which divides the mind from the brain (best seen when Evatt exclaims "My brain is the chooser!"). Not all segments are without merit; there are certainly interesting snippets, but these sections are simplified segments from other fine books or papers.

The book also hinges on a crucial point: free will and determinism are at odds, and if determinism is true, moral responsibility is untenable outside of utilitarian implementations. This is a major assumption: the field is very divided over this issue, but a growing consensus is acknowledging that the divide between determinism and free will is a false dichotomy. In Dan Dennett's snippet, this is half-acknowledged, but cast to the side as unimportant. This is not a subtlety to be glossed over casually, especially for an introduction to free will.

Something should also be said of the professionalism of this book. Granted, it is an attempt to cater to the layman. However, that doesn't excuse the large font, large margins, and tendency to call eminent philosophers by their first names.

Those looking for a modern analysis of the free will debate (that is relatively short) should pick up "Four Views on Free Will" by Fischer, Kane, Pereboom, and Vargas instead of this pamphlet. Four Views on Free Will (Great Debates in Philosophy)