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 Sapolsky

Evidence 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

Source

360 - We Really Don T Have Free WillMaking Sense with Sam Harris
Created: 6/14/2026, 2:19:39 AM

My Notes

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