Determined cover art

Determined

The Science of Life Without Free Will

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Determined

By: Robert M. Sapolsky
Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

One of the world’s greatest scientists of human behaviour, the bestselling author of Behave, shows that free will does not exist - and sets out the disturbing yet liberating implications of accepting this fact.

What if free will is an illusion? As Robert Sapolsky shows in this masterful account of the science of human behaviour, everything we think and do is caused by the luck of our biology and the influence of our environment, and ultimately both are beyond our control. In a world without free will, we must completely rethink what we mean by choice, responsibility, morality and justice. Sapolsky’s extraordinary book does exactly this, guiding us toward a profoundly fairer, more humane way of living together.

‘A joy to read. It's impossible to recommend this book too highly. Reading it could change your life’ LAURENCE REES

‘Outstanding for its breadth of research, the liveliness of the writing and the depth of humanity it conveys’ Wall Street Journal

‘Moving, absorbing, compassionate' OLIVER BURKEMAN, Observer

©2023 Robert M Sapolsky (P)2023 Penguin Audio Biological Sciences Biology Ethics & Morality Philosophy Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Science Thought-Provoking Health Human Brain Mental Health Morality

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Critic reviews

[A] highly entertaining account of why … we should and must overcome the infuriating conspiracy of mind that insists we are the authors of our actions. Anyone who believes otherwise needs to read it (Philip Ball)
Wonderfully readable ... humorous and warm and humane (Justin Webb)
All stars
Most relevant  
Sapolsky is a legend. The audiobook is well read but spoiled by the constant PLEASE SEE THE ACCOMPANYING PDF FOR A FOOTNOTE message. Hundreds of them throughout. These footnotes should either be read out or excised. Most annoying especially as most people don't listen with PDFs at hand. Buy the actual book because this ruins the listen.

A compelling case against the notion of free will

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Excellently written by an incredibly knowledgeable author. This will change how you think about life and those around you.

An outstanding book. Everyone should read this.

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I loved every minute of that book, and it left me hopeful, and calm. Embracing determinism seems scary at first but the new perspective, distance and compassion capabilities it unlocks are worth it.

The science-y stuff gets tough to grasp at times, this book requires full focus. However, the author's ability to synthesize and provide imaginative examples is a pleasant payoff after any detailed experiment description.

Freeing and refreshing

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The constant spoken footnote references pretty much ruin an otherwise interesting text. The issue is nonetheless a vital one.

Footnotes!!!

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This book is a gift to humanity and life on our planet. Thank you to the author for bringing such humour, wisdom and compassion to our understanding of our greatest difficulties and successes.

A gift to humanity

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genuinely good read. right mix of scientific current factoids in a interesting and thoughtful story arc. leaves one with quite a few things to ponder.

Great thoughtful read

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A book that I expect is life changing for many and informative to others.

Well structured and simplified enough for most readers who are not neuroscientists. With the addition of experience in its thinking on top of high quality research.

Life changing

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This bloke is amazing but I was totally out of my depth. Please let me know when you print the pop-up book version, and I’ll give it another shot.

My Brain Has Melted

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I'm sure this is a very well researched and articulate book but it is impossible to listen to as the narration is constantly interrupted, sometimes multiple times in a single minute, binarita reading the phrase "see accompanying PDF for a footnote". doesn't anybody listen to these narrations before they publish them?

beyond irritating. unlistenable

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This is an excellent and insightful book, written with Robert Sapolsky's characteristic humour and clear communication style. This builds on his prior book, Behave, which I also greatly enjoyed.

The book is read well, but the editors decided not to read the footnotes, instead opting to ask the narrator to say "please see the accompanying PDF for a footnote", which happens a lot as Sapolsky uses footnotes a great deal. I would have preferred the footnotes to be read out properly to have the proper flow of the book.

Another excellent Sapolsky book

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