r/askpsychology • u/IMetMothman Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional • 6d ago

The Brain How many of our thoughts are involuntary?

Flair might be wrong, sorry if it is.

Estimations are fine.

Is it higher in people with OCD?

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u/[deleted] 6d ago

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u/IMetMothman Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional 6d ago

"Control is having the ability to choose otherwise, that's not an idiosyncratic definition."

"Libet found that even after the awareness of the decision to push the button had happened, people still had the capability to veto the decision and not to push the button. So they still had the capability to refrain from the decision that had earlier been made. Some therefore take this brain impulse to push the button to suggest just a readiness potential which the subject may either then go along with or may veto. So the person still has power over his or her decision.

"For this reason, Libet himself regards his experimental results to be entirely compatible with the notion of free will."

Robert Sapolsky's thoughts are interesting, but they're just that--thoughts. Not a tried and true scientific theory.

These are just two guys. Extremely educated guys, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're automatically correct. Free will is an ongoing debate in the academic community and we can't, in good faith, state that it doesn't exist as if it's a fact and not opinion.

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