Ben Waber reviewed Free Agents by Kevin J. Mitchell
A Great Book with a Stumble at the End
4 stars
This book connects physics, evolutionary history, and neuroscience to build a compelling case for the existence of free will and why/how it evolved. Despite it not being Mitchell's area of expertise, the sections on physics are excellent, and the chapters tracing evolutionary developments around sensing, cognition, and decision making are similarly insightful. The sections on psychology falter a bit when Mitchell over-relies on flimsy evidence to support the primacy of genetics in outcomes, and the less said about the problematic AI epilogue the better. With that aside, this is still a very good book on an intriguing topic. Highly recommend
This book connects physics, evolutionary history, and neuroscience to build a compelling case for the existence of free will and why/how it evolved. Despite it not being Mitchell's area of expertise, the sections on physics are excellent, and the chapters tracing evolutionary developments around sensing, cognition, and decision making are similarly insightful. The sections on psychology falter a bit when Mitchell over-relies on flimsy evidence to support the primacy of genetics in outcomes, and the less said about the problematic AI epilogue the better. With that aside, this is still a very good book on an intriguing topic. Highly recommend