logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2024
41m 9s

183. Does Free Will Exist, and Does It M...

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
About this episode

Does anyone have any real agency? What do McDonald’s and Oxford University have in common? And why did Angela give up on philosophy?

 

 

 

Up next
Oct 5
42. How Does When You Are Born Affect Who You Are?
Also: how did Angela do with her no-sugar challenge? This episode originally aired on March 7, 2021. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. 
38m 35s
Sep 28
41. Why Are We So Attracted to Fame?
Also: do we subconsciously lie about our major influences? This episode originally aired on February 28, 2021. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. 
35m 41s
Sep 21
40. Have We All Lost Our Ability to Compromise?
Also: is it better to be right or “not wrong”? This episode originally aired on February 21, 2021. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. 
36m 15s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2024
5 Psychology Terms You’re Probably Misusing (Replay)
We all like to throw around terms that describe human behavior — “bystander apathy” and “steep learning curve” and “hard-wired.” Most of the time, they don’t actually mean what we think they mean. But don’t worry — the experts are getting it wrong, too. SOURCES:Sharon Begley, sen ... Show More
49m 12s
Jan 2024
573. Can Academic Fraud Be Stopped?
Probably not — the incentives are too strong. Scholarly publishing is a $28 billion global industry, with misconduct at every level. But a few reformers are gaining ground.   (Part 2 of 2) SOURCES:Max Bazerman, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.Leif ... Show More
1h 2m
Dec 2023
569. Do You Need Closure?
In a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Angela Duckworth and Mike Maughan talk about unfinished tasks, recurring arguments, and Irish goodbyes. SOURCES:Roy Baumeister, social psychologist and visiting scholar at Harvard University.Daniel Gilbert, professor of psychology at H ... Show More
39m 34s
Apr 2023
#107 — Is Life Actually Worth Living?
Sam Harris speaks with David Benatar about his philosophy of “anti-natalism.” They discuss the asymmetry between the good and bad things in life, the ethics of existential risk, the moral landscape, the limits and paradoxes of introspection, the “experience machine” thought exper ... Show More
49m 15s
Mar 2013
Episode 17: Learning about Bushmen by Studying Freshmen?
Thousands of studies in psychology rely on data from North American undergraduates. Can we really conclude anything about the "human" mind from such a limited sample-- especially since Westerners are probably more different from the rest of the world's population than any other g ... Show More
50m 13s
Aug 2012
Episode 1: Brains, Robots, and Free Will (Free Will and Morality Pt. 1)
Dave and Tamler start out talking about the new wave of skepticism about free will and moral responsibility in the popular press from people like Sam Harris and Jerry Coyne.   Neuroscience figures heavily in their arguments, but Dave and Tamler agree that neuroscientific data add ... Show More
1h 10m
Mar 2022
The Philosophers: Resisting despair
Sean Illing talks with author and professor Robert Zaretsky about the French philosopher, novelist, and journalist Albert Camus (1913–1960). Though Camus might be best known for his novel The Stranger, Sean and Prof. Zaretsky explore the ideas contained in his philosophical essay ... Show More
56m 48s