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This is the introduction only. The full episode is available via Patreon membership: https://www.patreon.com/kindmind Thank you for your support!

Free will is the ability to choose between possible courses of action. Many people feel themselves to be the authors of their thoughts, the agents of action and believe this to be true with respect to their decisions.

There is a sense that one could have behaved differently in the past, even though to rewind the tape of life would also remove the present insight. Or as one pop punk band sang it better: the past is only the future with the lights on.

However, most could readily agree that, at the very least, there is not always free will.

For example, a person with Alzheimer's or other type of dementia that severely impairs the ability to perform actions or utilize memory may not have the freedom to choose to behave politely or recognize their loved one. In addiction, it is widely understood that disruptions in the decision-making faculties of the brain lead to similar limitations of choice. Revelations in the neurobiology of drug use disorders continues to shape the moral implications and shift the legal interventions from punitive to rehabilitative.

To take this further, researchers have recently created choice experiments while observing the brain with magnetic resonance imaging and have been able to predict with statistical significance what subjects will choose up to 11 seconds before they are conscious of their choice!

Some argue that even if free will is an illusion, it is an illusion worth preserving. This episode explores different philosophical perspectives and considers what is worth paying attention to including the overlooked mental health benefits of reframing our understanding of free will.

(Music "Breathe" by Bing Sattelites and episode artwork on the podcast website by Emily Dawn)

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This is a very serious public health situation and for countless people it is also an intense psychological test. My heart goes out to all who are sick or love someone who got sick or died and all who are very anxious in this uncertain time.

Just as this outbreak started in one region and has since spread exponentially, so too fear and panic can go viral. When then sun is clouded over in the sky, sunflowers look towards each other for the light.

Similarly, in times of darkness we need to be able to count on one another. Many have reached out to me for guidance and insight and have requested some perspective that hopefully will bring some calm in the midst of chaos.

Episode artwork by Dove Dahlia

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Beautiful people are not always good, but good people are always beautiful.

Kindness forms a virtuous feedback loop. Kindness generates happiness, and happiness motivates people to be kind. But there is a catch - intention matters. It does not work if you do something kind for others for the sake of becoming happy or gaining something in return. This is known as "strategic kindness" and only yields pleasure as opposed to "altruistic kindness" which means without the desire for a reward and leads to real happiness. fMRI studies reveal that separate regions of the brain are activated for each kind of kind, putting the "true" back in altruism.

"To a wise one, the whole earth is open - because the true country of a virtuous soul is the entire universe." –Democritus

(Image by Dove Dahlia)