Dr Sally Satel, neurosci of addiction, personal responsibil.

Amy Alkon's Advice Goddess Radio: "Nerd Your Way To A Better Life!" with the best brains in science.

 

How much free will do we have and how much of our behavior is predetermined by our genes? 

 

Evidence about how people recover from addiction, for example, shows that we CAN control our behavior, contrary to those who make addiction out to be a “disease.”

 

On tonight’s show, psychiatrist Dr. Sally Satel will explain ways people recover from addiction and change other behaviors and why the the notion that we are passive victims of our genes and environment simply does not hold up. 

 

Unfortunately, there’s a whole lot of what Satel (with her co-author, clinical psychologist Dr. Scott O. Lilienfeld) calls “mindless neuroscience” -- colorful, alluring pictures of brain scans that are used in the media, by irresponsible and sensationalist researchers, and in court to excuse bad behavior and give rise to the notion that we shouldn’t be expected to exercise personal responsibility. 

 

On tonight’s show, Satel will explain why this thinking is wrong-headed -- one of the subjects of the very smart book she co-authored with Lilienfeld, BRAINWASHED: The Seductive Appeal Of Mindless Neuroscience. 

 

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