One of the most fascinating gifts evolution has given us is the ability to override our instincts. We have the intelligence to change habits that often drive our thoughts and behaviors on a subconscious level. This incredible capacity allows us to take control of our lives moment by moment—but it requires self-awareness.
Self-awareness isn't the same as self-consciousness. While self-consciousness is often about insecurity and anxiety, self-awareness is about understanding our behaviors and the motivations behind them. Recognizing these patterns is just the beginning; real change takes effort. We have to make conscious choices to transform our lives actively.
Our self-awareness deepens when we are in relaxed states. Breathing exercises, for example, can be more effective than meditation alone because we are naturally equipped with the tools to reach that state. Mindful contemplation is as much a part of us as dreaming.
Robert Sapolsky, a neuroscientist, has some intriguing theories on the nature of consciousness. In his 2024 lectures, he argues that humans don't have any free will—he's pretty blunt about it. And, to be honest, he makes a compelling case. He believes we're mostly on autopilot, driven by our subconscious minds, which are loaded with memories from all our life experiences, good and bad. In that sense, we are asleep, reacting to the present based on our past.
But here's where I think his view misses something: within those "sleeping" moments, we do wake up. We make choices in the present moment, but this requires us to be relaxed. The first sign of being in that relaxed state is easy, free breathing. I feel a sense of free will when I'm in a meditative state, focused on the now.
Free will isn't about disconnecting entirely from our past; it's about being aware enough to make choices in the present. Take riding a bike, for instance. Even if you're pedaling without thinking, you might spot a rock in your path. Suddenly, adrenaline kicks in, and you decide to swerve to avoid it. In that moment, you're exercising free will—you chose to turn. Afterward, you might drift back into autopilot, but that doesn't mean you didn't have a moment of conscious choice.
I agree with Sapolsky that even when we're "awake" and making conscious choices, our subconscious still influences us. There's no separation between the subconscious mind and the conscious moment. They're always interacting, with the subconscious informing our decisions in real-time, and then those decisions becoming part of our subconscious.
If we were entirely stuck in our subconscious, or if we had to relearn everything repeatedly, it would be a flaw in our design. On the flip side, if we were purely instinctual creatures, life would be pretty limited and uninteresting. I think Sapolsky might be missing something here. Maybe instead of just theorizing, he should meditate a bit, open his mind, and experience a true moment of free will. Unless, of course, we're just caught up in semantics. Maybe the grand philosophy is that nothing really has free will, and we're all just being puppeteered by some cosmic force. But that idea seems to clash with the principles of cause and effect, and karma—key elements in the debate over free will.