Oct 9, 2026 · 30 min · 16 segments
Have you ever found yourself doing something – perhaps getting a glass of water, eating a snack, or even sitting on the toilet – without remembering making the decision to do it? CrowdScience listener…
Caroline SteelHost
Are we genuinely in charge of our choices or are we puppets controlled by biological systems quietly pulling the strings? It's something I've wondered for a long time.
In fact, when I was 16 I wrote an essay for fun asking whether we have free will, and my conclusion was...
It appears most likely that we do not have free will as science clearly demonstrates that we are not in control of the way our mind reacts to the environment in which we live.
Since then, like Mohammed, I found the idea that I might not really be in charge both a relief and a bit depressing.
But are Mohammed and I right to be suspicious of free will? How much control do we really have over what we think, feel, and do? Now, we could answer this question using physics by asking whether the universe itself is predetermined, or through chemistry by looking at the molecules that shape our moods, or with biology by exploring the hidden processes inside our bodies.
Are we genuinely in charge of our choices or are we puppets controlled by biological systems quietly pulling the strings? It's something I've wondered for a long time.
In fact, when I was 16 I wrote an essay for fun asking whether we have free will, and my conclusion was...
It appears most likely that we do not have free will as science clearly demonstrates that we are not in control of the way our mind reacts to the environment in which we live.
Since then, like Mohammed, I found the idea that I might not really be in charge both a relief and a bit depressing.
But are Mohammed and I right to be suspicious of free will? How much control do we really have over what we think, feel, and do? Now, we could answer this question using physics by asking whether the universe itself is predetermined, or through chemistry by looking at the molecules that shape our moods, or with biology by exploring the hidden processes inside our bodies.
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