Who's in Charge?

Free Will and the Science of the Brain

By: Michael S. Gazzaniga

Narrated by: Pete Larkin

Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

The father of cognitive neuroscience and author of Human offers a provocative argument against the common belief that our lives are wholly determined by physical processes and we are therefore not responsible for our actions.

A powerful orthodoxy in the study of the brain has taken hold in recent years: Since physical laws govern the physical world and our own brains are part of that world, physical laws therefore govern our behavior and even our conscious selves. Free will is meaningless, goes the mantra; we live in a “determined” world.

Not so, argues the renowned neuroscientist Michael S. Gazzaniga in this thoughtful, provocative book based on his Gifford Lectures - one of the foremost lecture series in the world dealing with religion, science, and philosophy. Who's in Charge? proposes that the mind, which is somehow generated by the physical processes of the brain, “constrains” the brain just as cars are constrained by the traffic they create. Writing with what Steven Pinker has called “his trademark wit and lack of pretension”, Gazzaniga shows how determinism immeasurably weakens our views of human responsibility; it allows a murderer to argue, in effect, “It wasn’t me who did it - it was my brain.” Gazzaniga convincingly argues that even given the latest insights into the physical mechanisms of the mind, there is an undeniable human reality: We are responsible agents who should be held accountable for our actions, because responsibility is found in how people interact, not in brains.

An extraordinary book that ranges across neuroscience, psychology, ethics, and the law with a light touch but profound implications, Who’s in Charge? is a lasting contribution from one of the leading thinkers of our time.

©2011 Michael S. Gazzaniga (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A fascinating affirmation of our essential humanity." ( Kirkus)

Well done

A thorough argument, well delivered. Much was added to my knowledge on the subject. I enjoyed all the narrative-based examples. I especially enjoyed learning what possibilities the future holds for neuroscience.

Puts all neuro-science together

Maybe too many stories and very comprehensible. He is best explainer of tough concepts like free will and mind.

Use Your Credit On "Who's In Charge"

For those who want to make a quick decision, just read the above headline. For those who would like to thoroughly research this book before committing, go to the FREE "Brain Science Podcast" and listen to episode # 82. (In fact, if you are at all interested in the Mind/Brain, I strongly suggest you subscribe to this Audible sponsored podcast. It led me to this wonderful world of audiobooks.)
For those in between, here is my take on it. Dr. Gazzaniga is the father of research into split brain patients (this procedure for epilepsy has been replaced by less damaging ones, so there will be little research in the future). His work seems to have heavily influenced our present understanding of the brain, and a lot of that understanding is presented in this work. While I thought I knew quite a bit for a layman, there was not one part of this book that I could skip through, all of it was engaging, even the familiar parts. While there are other books I could recommend that specialize in certain areas, "Who's In Charge" covers most of the current popular topics, such as Self, Consciousness, Free Will, and Morality and touches on Chaos Theory and Emergence. To me, there were no low points here. nor is anything too complicated for the unitiated. I cannot see anybody being disappointed in purchasing this book, and believe you could have saved time and effort, by just following the advice in the headline.

Interesting but not 'easy'.

This is an engaging read even if some parts of a little boring or dry. I think it's an important book especially if you're interested in neuroscience. It was not a book that I can just listen to while I puttered, I had to concentrate and think. I'm sure I still missed things and would've been better if I read this in class and there was seminar is after a couple of chapters to further discuss some concepts. But I'm glad I read it. It was rather academic, a little dry but definitely interesting parts made up for that. For the end there were issues about the law and implications. Since it was written in 2010 I'd be very interested to see what the addendum would look like given any advancements seven years later. I'd recommend it but be warned this is not an easy read. (At least it wasn't for me…)

Not Superficial

Despite being nearly 7 years old, this book has good information on Neuroscience Frontiers. It does not shy away from the scientific explanations of brain activity as determined through experimentation.

good but wanted more

A bit of philosophy and a bit of science. I learned allot about split brain patients and the difference between the two hemispheres, but it left me with a lot of questions still unanswered.

Holding Us Responsible

Brain expert Michael Gazzaniga uses physics, psychology, neurology and sociology in this fascinating and enlightening argument that we are, in fact, in charge of our own lives. Like Daniel Dennett in Elbow Room and Steven Pinker in How The Mind Works, Gazzaniga addresses the problem of the supposed "deterministic" nature of the physical universe and how it is that we escape moral determinism in our decision making, living in this world and having a brain made of matter. He puts to rest what Dennett calls a "philosophical bugbear" with wit and good sense, showing us what we really knew all along--despite the physical nature of our brains, we are in charge of what we do with it.

Expert explains it to the rest of us

The author speaks with authority when he describes the working of the mind. Many of the other books I've been reading recently had mentioned the author's experiments on the hemispheres in the brain and how the mind works. Often, a primary researcher is not gifted at explaining, but Gazzaniga is.

In the book he does cite an official definition of consciousness that states that there are over 10000 scientific articles about consciousness and none of them add to our understanding. Who we are and what we are is just not easily understood, but this book does bring me closer to understanding.

The book also delves around a little with quantum physics and evolution. As usual, when an expert in another field, in this case neuroscience, and writes well in his own field, he writes even better when talking about other fields.

The book won't appeal to someone who wants absolute answers, because the understanding of the questions he is addressing are still fuzzy. Anyone, whose interest about neuroscience has been aroused and wants to know more about the right left brain will enjoy this well written book.

Humung-kulous!

i liked it. advanced stuff though it is. very interesting. will listen to it again

Wonderful

One of my favorite books on free will and behavior. I got to know about this book from the book Behave by Robert Sapolsky, which is also equally wonderful.