Anil Seth

And these decisions, these actions seem to come from within.

So what's all that about?

Well, I think there's a wrong way and a right way to think about free will.

There's a sense of free will, which I don't think we have, and I actually don't think makes any sense.

And this is the sense in which the self consciousness, the soul is something that is completely independent of our brains and our bodies and comes in and pulls the strings somehow so that we do the things that free will decides that we should do.

It's a sort of new force in physics.

It swoops in and changes the course of the physical events in our brains and bodies.

That's a kind of spooky free will that I don't think we have, but also I don't think we need.

So we are complex organisms.

Our brains are capable of controlling our bodies in all sorts of ways and making plans and responding to things in very flexibly.

I can see a mug of tea in front of me.

I can pick it up and drink from it.

I can take it to the kitchen.

I can do all sorts of things.

And when the brain is controlling voluntary actions of this sort, these are actions that are caused by processes in the brain and body that are largely internal, that come from within, that are aligned with the beliefs and desires that me as an organism has.

I'm English.

I like tea.

I make tea rather than coffee.

But I didn't choose to like tea.

I didn't choose to have the beliefs and desires that I in fact have.