I was listening to a podcast this morning which was talking about nature vs. nurture. To what affect does genetics play and how much influence does our upbringing have on us. While listening to this conversation it occurred to me that another forces shape who we become. Our own choices. But, this leads to what is it to make a choice?
There is no doubt that our genetics play a huge role in who we become. Some people are naturally gifted, intelligent or good-looking. All these genetic characteristics will have profound influences on life outcomes. Studies show that good-looking people get treated differently.
And it goes without saying that your upbringing has an impact on your life as well. In fact, genetic makeup can and does influence the way children are treated by their parents. Just look at male dominated cultures and the treatment of young girls.
Of course the choices we make are influenced by the previous two forces. Nurture and nature influence things like what kind of jobs we’re drawn to. How much risky behavior we engage in. Even what kind of people we are attracted to. But there are even more factors such as smells, whether or not we’re hungry and more. Social scientists are finding new factors in decision making all the time. Even which language we speak can influence our decisions.
This in turn lead me down a rabbit hole regarding the concept of free will. Are we really making decisions, or responding to a bunch of outside influences? Some, such as the celebrated philosopher Sam Harris doubt that free will exists.
Personally I find this concept very unsettling. The idea that I am not at the helm of my own life is discomforting. In another of his podcasts he posits a thought experiment. Apologies to Mr. Harris if I have misunderstood, but it goes something like this.
Let’s say you made a big decision, to take the blue pill. You might suppose that decision was yours. And that you could have chosen the red pill if you could make the decision again. Mr. Harris’ suggests is that if you could reverse time and put all the molecules and atoms in the universe in the exact same position before you made the decision and “pressed play” you would in fact make the exact same decision. The neurons in your brain would fire the exact same way. The subtle external influences; like if you’d eaten or if the room smelled of garbage would have the exact same influence on you. And thus, you don’t really have free will. That everything leading up to this moment has made the decision for you.
Of course, you play this thought experiment in both directions. Every decision, every event has been caused by all the decisions and events back to the big bang. And going the other way, every future decision you make has already been mapped out. The causes of every future event have been predetermined. Physics bears this concept out.