Sean Carroll

So the problem is that they absolutely refuse to understand what compatibilism says.

I had this experience with Sam Harris.

I had this experience with Robert Sapolsky.

They try to argue against compatibilism by making a case for determinism.

And I'm just like, do you know what the word compatibilism means?

It means that free will is compatible with determinism.

So you can't argue against the claim that free will is compatible with determinism by saying the world is deterministic.

We've already admitted that that's allowed as a possibility.

I think, by the way, it's not true, but it's allowed.

If it were, I would still believe.

free will.

And I've told them that.

I told Sam Harris that.

I told Robert Sapolsky that.

It just has no impact.

I really don't get it.

You know, there are better arguments, and some people do have better arguments, but I mean at the, you know, neither Sam nor Sapolsky are professional philosophers.

They

just think that they're finished with this question when they say that things are deterministic.

And I think that the real experts, I don't know Paraboom, but I'm sure that he's a little bit more subtle about it and recognizes that just shouting about determinism is not actually a counter argument to compatibilism.