Aaron Schurger: Neuroscience Does Not Threaten Free Will

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Curt Jaimungal

Physics, Philosophy, Society & Culture, Science

4.6 • 606 Ratings

🗓️ 30 October 2025

⏱️ 89 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Libet experiment didn't kill free will, says professor of neuroscience Aaron Schurger; the brain's "readiness potential" is simply stochastic neural noise. We then tackle consciousness's role in initiating action, the hard problem, and what it'd take for neuroscience to truly disprove our choices. If you’re interested in the topics above, I think you’ll love this podcast. Sponsors: - Get 50% off Claude Pro, including access to Claude Code, at https://claude.ai/theoriesofeverything - Get your copy of Richard Fain’s Delivering the Wow—available today on Amazon, or wherever you buy your books. - I personally subscribe to The Economist. TOE listeners get 35% off the annual subscription. No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e Timestamps: - 00:00 - The Readiness Potential - 07:14 - Reinterpreting Libet's Results - 24:18 - Autocorrelated Neural Noise - 36:06 - Noise vs. Conscious Imperative - 43:46 - Resolving Libet's Paradox - 50:55 - The Point of No Return - 56:11 - Attention Schema Theory - 01:03:47 - Explaining "What It's Like" - 01:17:00 - Consciousness & Action Initiation - 01:24:54 - Testing Consciousness Thresholds Links mentioned: - Aaron Schurger’s Papers: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lBSjfagAAAAJ&hl=en - Daniel Dennett [TOE]: https://youtu.be/bH553zzjQlI - Determined: A Science Of Life Without Free Will [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Determined-Science-Life-without-Free/dp/B0BVNSX4CQ/ref=sr_1_1 - Robert Sapolsky [TOE]: https://youtu.be/z0IqA1hYKY8 - An Accumulator Model For Spontaneous Neuralactivity Prior To Self-Initiated Movement [Paper]: https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.1210467109 - Consciousness Iceberg [TOE]: https://youtu.be/65yjqIDghEk - Stephen Wolfram [TOE]: https://youtu.be/0YRlQQw0d-4 - Awareness As A Perceptual Model Of Attention [Paper]: https://grazianolab.princeton.edu/sites/g/files/toruqf3411/files/graziano/files/cog_neurosci_2011b.pdf - Cortical Activity Is More Stable When Sensory Stimuliare Consciously Perceived [Paper]: https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.1418730112 - Propofol Anesthesia Destabilizes Neural Dynamics Across Cortex [Paper]: https://www.cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0896-6273%2824%2900446-X - Jenann Ismael [TOE]: https://youtu.be/7kvXihDAOi0 SUPPORT: - Become a YouTube Member (Early Access Videos): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join - Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal - Support me on Crypto: https://commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/de803625-87d3-4300-ab6d-85d4258834a9 - Support me on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=XUBHNMFXUX5S4 SOCIALS: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt - Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs Guests do not pay to appear. Theories of Everything receives revenue solely from viewer donations, platform ads, and clearly labelled sponsors; no guest or associated entity has ever given compensation, directly or through intermediaries. #science Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What this explanation offers is an answer.
0:03.0	Suddenly it just hit me like a ton of bricks,
0:05.0	and I was like, whoa, this is different.
0:09.0	For decades, neuroscientists have claimed your brain decides before you do.
0:13.0	The livid experiment seemed to kill free will.
0:16.0	You're a puppet of your unconscious.
0:19.0	Done. Simple.
0:21.6	Right?
0:22.6	Well, Professor of Neuroscience, Aaron Scherger, on the other hand, was not convinced.
0:27.6	He thinks something fundamental about the most famous experiment in neuroscience is wrong.
0:33.6	I'm Kurtzai Mungle, and on this channel I interview researchers regarding their theories of reality with rigor and technical depth.
0:40.3	Sugar says the readiness potential reflects stochastic drift towards a threshold and not commitment.
0:47.3	Even more radically, the professor is testing his framework by examining whether consciousness has a higher, steeper threshold.
0:55.5	We explore what would genuinely threaten free will, why the professor believes free will
1:00.2	has not been killed, despite all of the headlines to the contrary.
1:04.3	And we also explore new avenues neuroscience has to explain consciousness.
1:10.8	Today's episode is a huge treat and I'm super excited for you to hear it.
1:15.6	Professor, it would be great for you to outline the prevailing view on readiness potentials
1:20.0	and its relationship to free will among your neuroscientific colleagues and then where you
1:25.0	diverge.
1:26.0	Great.
1:27.0	So for the viewers who you may know what the readiness potential is, it's this slow
	...

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