Q&A: Free Choice and the Libet Experiments
Free Choice and the Libet Experiments
Question
With God’s help,
Hello Rabbi,
I saw that the Rabbi is an enthusiastic supporter of libertarianism, but it is not clear to me how he remains a supporter of that approach after the findings of Libet’s experiments and those that came after him.
After all, Libet’s experiments proved that there are variables that dictated the choice even before the person became consciously aware of the choice.
And from the newer experiments (for example here) it emerged that Libet’s veto findings do not really exist, according to imaging and scanning of the structure of the brain and skull.
So if it is possible to predict in advance with 100% accuracy what a person will do, that is a sign that there is no free choice.
Isn’t that so?
Answer
Where did you see that? In the article and in my book I explained this point. See here: