Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Not believing in free-will reduces moral behavior


NYTimes

“Free will guides people’s choices toward being more moral and better performers,” Dr. Vohs said. “It’s adaptive for societies and individuals to hold a belief in free will, as it helps people adhere to cultural codes of conduct that portend healthy, wealthy and happy life outcomes.”


2 comments:

  1. Seems self-evident. If I can dump the blame on the things that caused my decision, why would I invest the same effort to do the right rather than the joy-enducing?

    -micha

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  2. Although I guess his evolutionary explanation can only come from a behaviorist or someone else with a motive for denying first-hand experience. After all, it's not something societies develop, it's how the decision-making process looks from the "inside", first-person, perspective.

    -micha

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