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Robert Sapolsky rose to prominence following the publication and success of his book, “Behave,” which probes in microscopic detail, “The biology of humans at our best and worst.” It is a long book tackling issues of great complexity and challenge. If anything, the latest book, “Determined,” dives into the issue of even greater depth, and after going through scientifically informed analysis, concludes that there is no free will. Like the physical world outside, the internal world of living beings with their thoughts and actions is wholly deterministic and hence no responsibility for any act can logically be placed on the actor. This conclusion is loaded with implications that are counterintuitive and controversial. Hating someone who has murdered people ruthlessly and calling for revenge is as undeserved as praising someone for the deeds of protecting the lives of many. Hate and praise assumes that the person has consciously chosen to do the act and could have chosen otherwise. The book attempts to prove that such a view is indefensible when the findings of different scientific disciplines are put together and logically analyzed.

The book starts by looking into the immediate neurological cause of any behavior that anyone engages in, occurring seconds before the act. Any act is preceded by the activities of neurons in the brain that causes thoughts, emotions or movement of body parts. But that neuronal activity is preceded by the activity of other neurons and then those by others and so on. Besides, there is also interaction with the immediate environment including response to various stimuli that can influence one’s behavior. At the time of engaging in any act, we perceive being in control of our physical movement and thus our actions feel like having been carried out with intentionality. Even if that were true, the main question to be asked in determining whether free will exists is, “Where the intention comes from?” Sapolsky argues that what can be intended is already restricted and is out of control of the agent as a result of a combination of factors long before the moment of choice. As the famous saying goes, “You may do as you will but you cannot do what you will.”

Moving a little back, hours to days before the action, hormones coursing through the body impacts the excitability of the neurons, making one or other action more or less likely. For example, if there was above average flow of testosterone in the body of any person some hours back due to some physical exertion, it could increase the likelihood of her/his engaging in some aggressive act. But even the impact of hormones varies widely across different persons. It depends on the life experiences the person has gone through including childhood, her/his genetic makeup and culture that the person was raised in. 

The frontal cortex, the brain’s outermost region, considered the seat of rationality, impulse control and gratification postponement, continues its development even after other brain regions have more or less set in their way. So, the experience of adolescence and early adulthood is of great importance for shaping this region and guiding major human behaviors affected by it. Of even greater significance is the experience of childhood, when most of the neuronal connections and brain regions are being actively shaped. Say, someone has deep childhood trauma due to being physically abused or growing in uncertainty riddled poverty. His amygdala, a brain region related to fear, is likely to be larger in size and hyperactive for life and the frontal cortex becomes less capable in restricting impulsive behavior. During adulthood, while moving through a dark aisle, he happens to mistake a harmless passerby, who is getting his hands out of pocket, for an attacker intent on harming him, and in an instinctive self-defense, attacks the person. How free was he and how reasonable is it to blame or worse, hate, him for the attack? Sapolsky views his behavior to be equivalent to that of a car with damaged brakes hitting a passenger. 

There is a popular contrary view that asserts that anyone is dealt with by the lack of genes, culture, upbringing, mishaps of life are out of one’s control, but how she responds to it is where the free will is expressed. However, the book describes this as a dangerous myth. Ability to resist stress, temptations, move on despite suffering and whatever else is implied by willpower is ultimately the result of the brain’s functioning, mostly of the prefrontal cortex. It is thus determined by the factors mentioned above which is the interaction of biology and environment. Both of those are outside the control of the person. Dogmatic belief in the myth of willpower leads to creating unnecessary suffering like by blaming a dyslexic child with inherent inability to read and write for not applying herself in her study or accusing incompetent mothering for developing schizophrenic child.

At extremes like childhood abuse, genetic illness, etc. the lack of free will is relatively easier to appreciate and most of us would not blame someone for being born blind. However, the main object of the book is to show that everything is deterministic, be it the mundane day to day choices that we don’t even care about or the things people do that we feel we would never have done. In fact, as an example, if any of us had been born with Hitler’s gene, in the same womb that he inhabited and had exactly the same childhood and life experience he did, we would have done exactly what he did. Such extreme hypothetical circumstances with mind-numbing implication may be hard to accept but it is what Sapolsky means when he says that the world is deterministic leaving no room for free will to exist. And with that there is no reason to assign responsibility, even for genocide.

Sapolsky ends the book concluding that the fear of personal morality declining and society being uninhabitable in the absence of free will is misplaced. As a proof in form of analogy, he points to the scientifically informed fact that diminishment in religiosity and faith in god has not increased anti-social behavior.

I would highly recommend this mind enriching book which weighs in on a serious issue of great personal and social consequence in a deeply thoughtful and thoroughly enjoyable manner.

Good fiction overwhelms you with a mixed soup of emotions, some of which you can relate as almost happening to yourself, and others that you can empathize with. The Lincoln Highway brings together ordinary-seeming characters in a real setting, which revolves around the places in and around the titular highway, and creates out of it a grand narrative within which small stories of its character interact beautifully.

Main protagonists are two brothers: the elder, Emmet, who has just finished his sentence at juvenile prison, and the younger, Billy, who is full of curiosity and possesses an intellect honed by his insatiable love for reading and sharp observation. Their father had died of cancer, leaving behind huge debt owing to his failure in an agriculture venture, which led to the foreclosure of their property. With only his car, his loving brother and a mixture of ambition, courage and self-confidence, Emmet plans to ride with Billy Westward along the highway for a fresh start in California. But, if everything goes according to plan in fiction, there would not be a book of more than 100,000 words and if there was one, it would probably be very boring.

Two of the closest friends of Emmet while he was in the prison, Duchess and Wolly, break out of the prison and come to meet him. They join along for the ride, with their own grand plan and purposes. Along the ride, besides the beautiful outer landscape of the surrounding, complex inner world of these diverse characters opens up before the reader. Other than these main characters, there are other supporting ones, who have been portrayed with such richness that one cannot help but hunger for more details about their life and thoughts. Two female characters, who showcase deep inner strength and wisdom, provide variation and diversity of perspective. As we come to know these companions, they are likely to feel, at least partly, like ourselves or some family members or friends we know.

The book starts at the middle of the story, and as the plot moves forward and backward along the timeline, the differing childhood of characters reveals itself. Beyond their diversity of class, geography, and circumstance of their upbringing, there are some commonalities like a sense of loss and lack of belongingness. Readers can enjoy trying to understand the values, thoughts and actions of the characters in the light of their early years, including parenting or lack thereof and family circumstances. Then it would not be surprising to find someone, who never knew his mother and was raised by an absent father, turns out to be shortsighted and self-centered despite good intentions. Or that a sensitive, timid child, growing up in a rich household full of highly ambitious people, with expectation burdened upon him, grows up to be anxious. Also, little Billy’s character reminds us that children are full of wonder, curiosity and optimism that many seem to grow out of as they age. Actions that these characters take, shaped by the coincidence of their birth and childhood, determine how their journey moves forward and where they end up at the climax. In the journey of these characters, conflict of whether fate decides everything or free will is in charge is also palpable.

Different chapters of the book are written from the perspectives of different characters, allowing us to observe the unfolding of some major events from various points of view. When a character commits an act that seems irrational and irritating, gaining the actor’s inner perspective on the same not only makes the act appear more reasonable but also helps the reader develop general compassion—something fiction reading has been shown to foster. Even actions that seem selfish and cause disproportionate difficulty to others become understandable, if not entirely forgivable. 

Hero’s journey is a major theme that the book embraces. Billy immerses himself in a book titled “Compendium of Heroes, Adventurer’s and other intrepid travelers”, a fictional book within the fiction about the journey of heroes through the ages. It traces the lines of a self-sufficient hero going into the world to face the external demons and in the process of struggling to vanquish it, coming to know oneself better, meeting and beating the demons within, thus returning from the journey as a transformed person. This is a journey we can all relate to, be it in the stories we have read, movies we have watched or the life we have lived. 

Billy has a dream of being part of a similar adventure and writing about it himself. The journey he is making becomes an important part of his story, which incorporates the life of his brother, father and other side characters besides himself. And this is not unique in that regard. One of the messages that the book tries to impart is that each of our lives is a journey with so many ups and downs, unexpected twists and turns, love and loss worthy of great story.

At times, it may appear that the story has been stretched too long, going into avoidable tangents but that can be forgiven, given the writer’s willingness to touch many different themes and viewpoints. It even tackles deep moral and philosophical questions of life. The book is likely to take willing readers into a wide ranging emotional roller-coaster. Unable to contain, one may laugh out loud or moist their eyes with an outflow of feelings, whether for the characters or for someone that the lifelike characters remind. Reputed literary critics have said that fiction is best read by making yourself vulnerable, allowing the story to do whatever it wants with you. And for anyone wanting to make oneself vulnerable with the noble pursuit of reading, ‘The Lincoln Highway’ is a worthy choice.

“The Selfish Gene” by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins explores the idea that the fundamental unit of survival in living organisms is the gene. Genes are the organic replicators that inhabit every living creature on Earth, and their primary mechanism for survival is by passing from parent to offspring through sexual or asexual reproduction. While genes are not conscious entities, their influence on organisms often makes them seem like master strategists.

One striking example from the book involves the parasitic behavior of cuckoo birds, which lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, like robins. The cuckoo egg is cleverly disguised to resemble the host bird’s eggs. The unsuspecting host incubates the egg, and once it hatches, the cuckoo chick instinctively pushes the host’s real eggs out of the nest, ensuring it receives all the parental care and resources. Though this happens unconsciously, natural selection has favored the genes that enable these behaviors in cuckoos, ensuring their survival and propagation. Cuckoos that failed to disguise their eggs did not survive to pass on their genes. This process of differential survival based on fitness to the environment has driven the evolution of the vast diversity in appearance and behavior among living beings.

The book also challenges the popular but misleading view that evolution favors traits that benefit the group or species as a whole. For instance, when a prey bird spots a predator and sounds an alarm, it seems like an act of group altruism. However, this behavior also increases the caller's own safety, as the alarm may confuse the predator and make it harder to locate any single bird. The alarm call itself has evolved to be difficult for predators to pinpoint. Thus, the "selfish" genes that promote such behavior have outcompeted those that favored less effective strategies. The concept of the "selfish gene" offers a simpler explanation for complex behaviors, which the more chaotic and diverse “good of the species” view struggles to address.

Organisms often care for their kin because, from a genetic perspective, ensuring the survival and reproduction of kin is another way to propagate one’s own genes. Kin share a greater proportion of genes with each other than with unrelated individuals. On average, an organism shares half its genes with its offspring and siblings, a quarter with its grandchildren, nieces, or nephews, and so on. This genetic relatedness explains the evolution of kin altruism.

No discussion of evolution would be complete without addressing the intriguing phenomenon of sexual selection, which the book covers in detail. The fundamental genetic difference between males and females relates to sexual reproduction. Female sexual genes, like eggs, are larger and fewer in number, making them a valuable resource for which male sperm must compete. The ultimate goal of every gene is not just to create offspring but to ensure that the offspring survive to adulthood and reproduce, continuing the gene line. This creates a value in caring for offspring, leading to sexual conflict.

For males, it is advantageous to produce as many offspring as possible while leaving the burden of care to someone else. However, females, who often carry the offspring within their bodies, are under evolutionary pressure to choose males likely to contribute to child-rearing. This has led to various courting rituals across the animal kingdom, ranging from nest-building and food-sharing to elaborate dances and displays of plumage.

Dawkins approaches the topic with a first-principles mindset, questioning even the most basic premises, such as why bodies exist at all, why there is such variation between males and females, and why females bear offspring instead of males. The seemingly cold and heartless outcomes of natural selection are balanced by the success of strategies like tit-for-tat, where mutual cooperation can evolve. Nature seems to achieve a balance approaching fairness, shaped by the competition between selfish genes.

This book is considered a significant contribution to evolutionary biology, a field that has been controversial since Darwin's “The Origin of Species.” Beyond its scientific insights, “The Selfish Gene” is also a pleasure to read, filled with engaging anecdotes and examples from nature, all presented in a fluid and accessible style.