The belief that all the decisions we make as humans are completely based on our free will is a popular thought among most of us. However, Sam Harris, a well-known American neuroscientist, philosopher, podcast host, author, and founder of the ‘Waking up app’, tries to shed a different light on the endless debate if it can actually be true that we as humans do have free will. 

In this book, Sam describes that even when it is difficult to imagine, the decisions in life about what you vote during the elections, who you want to marry or personal achievements are not the consequence of your own thoughts and actions. In fact, Sam argues that free will is an illusion that we create in our mind to explain our choices and actions. However, in reality, everything we decide, do, or say is the consequence of the activity in our brain. Therefore, unconsciously your brain had already decided that you were going to read this recommendation article. However, you only started to ‘consciously’ realize this a couple of seconds later, as well as giving the explanation that you were really interested in reading this article and therefore you have started reading it. Nonetheless, if you do or do not agree with Sam’s point of view, this enlightening book will encourage you to change your way of thinking about the most important questions in life. 

Author: Joyce Burger