I enjoyed this article so much, I came back to read it again and share it.

On science, I guess I go back to the T-shirt: “Reality is what’s left when you stop believing in it.” Ergo, the ‘scientific method’ is really just basic skepticism wrapped in a process burrito. This leads to so-called “free will.” I think the category should be ‘action’, and the subcategories are “random”, “habitual”, “instinctive” and “intentional”. The first and last would be under “free will” but the other two are the core of modern capitalist consumerism and religion. (“Coercion: Why We Do What They Say” by Douglas Rushkoff). Free will can be applied unidirectionally to the middle two, when we say, “No, I’m not doing that” (self-discipline). Building civilizations and domesticating humans (each child gets to be domesticated), becomes more understandable if you view our systems from the perspective of their actual function and outputs rather than everybody’s frackin’ feeeeeelings. Everyone feels like they have free will most of the time (Descartes), but our intentionality is a very tiny part (executive function) of the brain, which works best when groups create a system to support each other’s good habits, random curiosity and intentions. A padlock only keeps out honest people, so if you want to prevent crime, you have to nurture honest, cooperative citizens, not competitive, fearful individuals.

Oh, and all of the things that interfere with dopamine will also interfere with executive function, so…if our cars, sports (head injuries) and food make everyone paranoid habitual consumers, how will they ever find out?