A beginner's guide to neural mechanisms

neuralmechanisms.org

86 points·Schiphol··3 comments

Wow, this is nice.

At first glance, I was a bit disappointed to see the first video being about Libet's experiment. To this day I cannot understand why so many people took the conclusions from that research seriously.

But luckily for me, the video, after explaining the basics of the experiment, dives into critical responses to the theory and outlines the complexity involved.

Thanks for sharing this with the world.

Going back to Libet's original thesis -- the refutation of free will -- wouldn't the influence of random noise on the readiness potential be just as helpful towards accomplishing that goal as any other form of unconscious decision timing? It seems that later research has merely offered alternative ways to beat the same dead horse.

For those unaware, Libet's experiments appeared to show that conscious decisions to move a body part follow unconscious preparation to perform the movement. One interpretation is that consciousness is merely an 'observer' of the unconscious, and hence free will is an illusion.

I'm sure there are better places to read refutations of Libet, both philosophical and neurophysiological, but a quick search pointed me to this, which was interesting:

https://neurosciencenews.com/libet-free-will-23756/

I can't watch the videos in tfa right now, but it sounds from parent's comment that at least the first is worth watching.

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