Philosophy
The Free Will vs. Determinism Debate
Quick fact
Neuroscientist Benjamin Libet's 1980s experiments suggested that brain activity associated with a decision occurs about half a second before a person consciously feels they made that choice — challenging the experience of free will.
Why this is interesting
You feel like you freely chose to read this sentence — but did you really? The centuries-old debate between free will and determinism asks whether your choices are truly your own or just the inevitable result of everything that came before.