causal
Soft vs Hard Downward Causation
There is obvious 'soft' downward causation—thinking about global warming can raise your heart rate, an abstract cortical process driving brainstem autonomic regulation—but this never changes the basic nature of the building blocks; the neurons behave exactly as they would for any other trigger, so it provides no scope for free will.
causalpending
Speaker
Robert SapolskyEvidence Quote
“philosophers argue about is there hard downward causality there's obviously downward causality i can sit and think here about global warming and my heart may start beating faster”
Created: 6/14/2026, 2:19:39 AM
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